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Physics Astrophysics

astro-ph Watch Astrophysics

Monday 23 February

Astrophysics of Galaxies

BayeSED-GALAXIES II. Bayesian full spectrum analysis of galaxies and application in the CSST wide-field slitless spectroscopy survey

Yunkun Han, Xian Zhong Zheng, Xiaohu Yang et al. (+21 more)

The China Space Station Telescope (CSST) will conduct wide-field multiband photometric imaging and slitless spectroscopic surveys, advancing cosmology and galaxy evolution studies. Achieving CSST's cosmological goals requires precise redshifts ($\sigma_{\rm NMAD}\lesssim 0.002-0.005$) from low-resolution ($R\sim200$) and potentially blended slitless spectra. We present BayeSED3, extended for Bayesian full-spectrum analysis, including nebular emission modeling (via Cloudy) and a Bayesian treatment of the model scaling factor, improving reliability over optimization methods for low SNR spectra. Validated on realistic mock data generated with the CESS emulator (median SNR=1.65, including instrumental and self-blending effects), our method achieves excellent redshift precision with three-band (GU+GV+GI) spectroscopy: $\sigma_{\rm NMAD}=0.0008$ ($\sim$80% success) for star-forming and $\sigma_{\rm NMAD}=0.0015$ ($\sim$50% success) for quiescent galaxies. Stellar mass ($\sigma_{\rm NMAD}\approx0.015$ dex for SF, $\approx0.016$ dex for quiescent) and SFR ($\sigma_{\rm NMAD}\approx0.05$ dex for SF, especially at SNR>1) are reliably recovered. Self-blending increases scatter by $\gtrsim30%$, but combining spectroscopy with CSST's seven-band photometry significantly improves accuracy, especially for quiescent galaxies and data-limited cases. Single-band spectroscopy plus photometry yields reasonable redshifts: GU+photometry is limited, GI+photometry gives >60% (SF) and >40% (quiescent) success at $\sigma_{\rm NMAD}\lesssim0.002$, GV+photometry gives >35% (SF) and $\sim$40% (quiescent) at similar precision. The Bayesian framework offers a powerful method for accurate galaxy characterization, enhancing CSST's scientific outcomes despite the challenges of slitless spectroscopy.
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All authors Yunkun Han, Xian Zhong Zheng, Xiaohu Yang, Run Wen, F. S. Liu, Hu Zou, Jin-Ming Bai, Yinghe Zhao, Lulu Fan, Fenghui Zhang, Xiaoyu Kang, Xiejin Li, Hong Guo, Pengjie Zhang, Hu Zhan, Gongbo Zhao, Cheng Li, Yan Gong, Yizhou Gu, Feng Shi, Xingchen Zhou, Jipeng Sui, Yipeng Jing, Zhanwen Han

2602.19451 · 23 Feb · 38 pages, including 16 figures and 2 tables; accepted for publication in ApJS. The mock CSST data for ~100,000 galaxies utilized in this work will be publicly available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17221343/. A Python script for an in-depth comparison between BayeSED3 and BAGPIPES is available at https://github.com/hanyk/BayeSED3/blob/main/tests/test_bayesed_bagpipes_comparison.py

Abstract PDF $GLXY ×6$BAYS ×4$RDSH ×3$EVO ×1 +3

Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics

Photometry of Fireballs using High Frame Rate Cameras

Dale Giancono, Hadrien Devillepoix, Robert Howie et al. (+2 more)

Fast sampling photometry is essential for characterising fireballs and their fragmentation episodes which link to the meteoroid internal structure. Accurate measurements remain challenging due to the large required dynamic range of up to 10 stellar magnitudes driving up operational complexity and cost. We developed an all-sky camera system operating at up to 500 frames per second featuring a novel Detection Localised Auto-brightness Control. Custom software manages high data throughput via transient detection and region-of-interest saving with real-time photometry. Two field deployments validate photometric accuracy against conventional 30 frames per second cameras and demonstrate the successful capture of a bright magnitude -15 fireball with minimal saturation. The system achieves an effective dynamic range between apparent magnitudes -3 and -17 capturing minimally saturated light curves for most fireballs. A successful semi-empirical fragmentation analysis verifies its ability to provide data for detailed physical modelling. The primary application for this validated system will be as a core component of the Global Fireball Observatory's next-generation instrumentation. The intention is to deploy it in a hybrid observatory, operating alongside a dedicated high-resolution astrometric camera. This configuration will allow the network to simultaneously capture precise trajectory data for orbit and fall-line calculations and acquire complete, unsaturated high dynamic range light curves at high temporal resolution for detailed physical analysis, combining the strengths of both systems.
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All authors Dale Giancono, Hadrien Devillepoix, Robert Howie, Denis Vida, David Rollinson

Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics · Cross-listed from gr-qc

Improving calibration accuracy with torque coupled gravity field calibrator for sub-Hz gravitational wave observation in CHRONOS

Yuki Inoue, Daiki Tanabe and Vivek Kumar

A fundamental challenge in low-frequency gravitational-wave detectors is the limited signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of calibration lines, particularly in torsion-bar systems where the response is governed by rotational dynamics. In this work, we resolve this issue by optimizing the geometrical configuration of a torque-coupled gravity field calibrator (GCal), achieving an improvement in calibration-line SNR by more than an order of magnitude compared to conventional layouts. For the Cryogenic sub-Hz cROss torsion-bar detector with quantum NOn-demolition Speed-meter (CHRONOS), the calibration signal appears as a monochromatic line within the $0.1$–$10~\mathrm{Hz}$ band. At $1~\mathrm{Hz}$, the strain-equivalent calibration amplitude reaches $|h_{\rm GCal}| = 1.16 \times 10^{-14}$, corresponding to an SNR density of $|h_{\rm GCal}|/S_h = 4.16 \times 10^{3}$. This demonstrates for the first time that a high-SNR calibration line can be directly injected into the sub-Hz band of a torsion-bar detector. A first-order perturbative error propagation analysis yields a total fractional systematic uncertainty of $\delta h_{\rm GCal}/h_{\rm GCal} = 0.24\%$, dominated by geometric alignment uncertainties, while contributions from mass uncertainties and the gravitational constant remain subdominant. The corresponding absolute systematic uncertainty is $\delta h_{\rm GCal} \sim 10^{-17}$ at $1~\mathrm{Hz}$. These results establish torque-coupled gravitational calibration as a practical solution to the longstanding low-SNR problem in sub-Hz torsion-bar detectors and provide a robust pathway toward precision absolute calibration in the low-frequency regime.
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Sunday 22 February

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

Certified Uncertainty for Surrogate Models of Neutron Star Equations of State via Mondrian Conformal Prediction

Marlon M. S. Mendes, Roberta Duarte Pereira, Mariana Dutra da Rosa Louren et al. (+1 more)

We present a multitask surrogate for neutron-star equations of state (EoSs) that delivers distribution-free, certified uncertainty via split conformal prediction (CP) and its Mondrian variant. The surrogate ingests a six-parameter piecewise-polytropic representation $(\log_{10}p_1,\Gamma_1,\Gamma_2,\Gamma_3,\rho_1,\rho_2)$ – with fixed transition densities $\rho_1$ and $\rho_2$ – and jointly performs (i) validity classification under physical/observational constraints and (ii) regression of $M_{\max}$, $R(M_{\max})$, $R_{1.4}$, and $\Lambda_{1.4}$. Trained on a balanced set of $40{,}000$ EoSs, the model attains near-perfect discrimination (AUC $\approx 0.997$) and sub-percent relative errors for masses and radii, with few-percent error for tidal deformability. Across $\alpha\in[0.05,0.25]$, empirical coverages closely track $1-\alpha$ for both Standard and Mondrian CP; in conservative regimes, Mondrian yields narrower average physical widths at comparable coverage. To our knowledge, this is the first application of class-conditioned (Mondrian) conformal calibration to neutron-star EoS surrogates, enabling efficient, reproducible, and uncertainty-aware inference; the framework is readily extensible to functional targets (e.g., full $R(M)$ curves).
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All authors Marlon M. S. Mendes, Roberta Duarte Pereira, Mariana Dutra da Rosa Louren, César H. Lenzi

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

Probing the maximum energy of fast radio bursts using thousands of sources from the Second CHIME/FRB Catalog

Vishwangi Shah, Jason W. T. Hessels, Victoria M. Kaspi et al. (+25 more)

Quantifying the maximum energy of fast radio bursts (FRBs) can provide stringent constraints on their emission mechanisms and progenitor models. However, the most energetic bursts are rare, requiring a large sample of FRBs to detect them. In this work, we use the largest available such sample, 2,998 one-off FRBs from the Second CHIME/FRB Catalog, to obtain a lower limit on the maximum energy ($E^{\mathrm{max}}_{\mathrm{iso}}$) of FRBs, assuming isotropic energy distribution from FRB sources. In the absence of known redshifts ($z$) for most sources, we present a framework that uses the dispersion measures (DMs) and fluences of these FRBs, together with the probability distribution of $z$ given DM, to derive the lower limit on $E^{\mathrm{max}}_{\mathrm{iso}}$. We generate simulated FRB samples assuming different parameter values for a log-normal $\mathrm{DM}_{\mathrm{host}}$ distribution and a Schechter function form of the FRB energy function to estimate how many outliers – FRBs with large DM contributions from the host galaxy or intervening galaxy halos – could artificially inflate this limit. After accounting for outliers, the lower limit on $E^{\mathrm{max}}_{\mathrm{iso}}$ from Catalog 2 FRBs ranges between $1.2\times10^{41}$ and $1.9\times10^{42}$ erg, with best estimate $1.2\times10^{42}$ erg. This limit is consistent with those derived from much smaller FRB samples. Moreover, inferred energies of hundreds of FRBs appear collectively limited around $\sim10^{42}$ erg, suggesting a physical limit on the energy reservoir of FRB sources. The corresponding isotropic-equivalent FRB source energy is consistent with the total energy available in a magnetar's external dipole magnetic field, supporting magnetars as FRB progenitors.
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All authors Vishwangi Shah, Jason W. T. Hessels, Victoria M. Kaspi, Kiyoshi W. Masui, Mawson W. Sammons, Daniel Amouyal, Charanjot Brar, Shami Chatterjee, Alice P. Curtin, Hannah Didehbani, B. M. Gaensler, Naman Jain, Ronniy C. Joseph, Afrokk Khan, Bikash Kharel, Adam E. Lanman, Kyle McGregor, Ryan Mckinven, Mason Ng, Kenzie Nimmo, Ayush Pandhi, Aaron B. Pearlman, Alexander W. Pollak, Paul Scholz, Kaitlyn Shin, Seth R. Siegel, Kendrick Smith, Michele Woodland

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

Parameter Estimation Limits in Blazars

Agniva Roychowdhury

Parameter degeneracy in blazar spectral energy distributions (SEDs) is known but rarely quantified. This paper introduces a Fisher Information approach to determine theoretical limits to information extraction in the context of one-zone models. By evaluating the total Fisher Information by varying $\delta$, $B$, $p$, $\gamma_{\rm min}$ and $\gamma_{\rm max}$, we find that EC models encode Fisher information $\gtrsim10^4$ times less than that in SSC models, establishing differences in limits of physical information extraction even in the case of perfect sampling. Moreover, the Fisher information in both SSC and EC models exhibit strong fluctuations across the parameter space, but since the magnitudes are orders of magnitude lower in EC, limits of parameter inference are expected to be worse in FSRQ SEDs than BL Lacs. We also find that the Doppler factor $\delta$ carries at least $10^{2-3}$ more Fisher information than that for $p$ and $B$ in both EC and SSC, making $\delta$ the most constrained SED parameter. Applying our Fisher Information motivated framework to real flaring SEDs of Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars (FSRQs) CTA 102 and 3C 279, we show that mild variations in $\delta$ and $p$ can appreciably produce the flaring SEDs starting from the quiescent model, while two other flares in 3C 279 simple geometric and spectral considerations cannot reproduce the flares, reducing the efficacy of one-zone models. We propose that time-resolved SED models are indispensable to constraining physical parameters in EC-dominated blazars.
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Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics

Safety Acquisitions: Redundancy for non-repeatable multi-orbit STIS visits

Matthew M. Dallas and Matthew R. Siebert

For observations of supernovae, kilonovae, tidal disruption events, and other non-repeatable observations, it is important the science data is taken successfully within a specific time window. Part of obtaining that data is often centering objects in the aperture to a higher accuracy than is available from Hubble Space Telescope's (HST's) blind pointing. On HST STIS the sequence of exposures responsible for this centering is the target acquisition or STIS ACQ sequence, and it is most often placed only at the beginning of a visit. Unfortunately, STIS ACQ sequences will fail if the observatory experiences issues locating guide stars in time for the start of the required exposures. If the guide stars are located at a later point in the visit, the remaining science exposures can be taken but the pointing might not be as accurate as is required. This work discusses both the frequency of this issue and the feasibility of placing redundant or "safety" STIS ACQ sequences in a multi-orbit visit to regain the desired pointing accuracy in an affected visit. To do so we select a subset of all 113 STIS ACQ sequences from September 2018 to September 2023 which have experienced this issue. We find that this problem occurs in ~5% of the total STIS ACQ sequences taken during that time period, with a recent increase in the rate to ~9% from March to September 2023. Since the observatory goes through periods of better or worse pointing performance, this recent increased failure rate is not guaranteed to continue. For those failed visits which span multiple orbits, ~39% never obtain a lock on the guide stars and thus take no data. Of the multi-orbit visits that do recover the guide stars, the majority (~78%) do so before the beginning of science exposures in the second orbit. We also provide advice for users on how to make a risk assessment based on the analysis presented here.
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Astrophysics of Galaxies

Feedback shaped the galaxy morphological sequence in presence of mergers

Masafumi Noguchi

Bulges and disks are major structural components that define galaxy morphology. The mass ratios of bulges and disks increase statistically with the galaxy mass, with the high-mass end occupied by elliptical galaxies. Although previous theoretical studies have succeeded in reproducing this morphological sequence, it is not yet fully understood why and how this morphological sequence emerged. Galaxy mergers accompanying dark matter halo mergers have been proposed as the major route for bulge formation. On the other hand, it is observationally known that the mass fraction of galaxies (stars plus cold gas) in dark matter halos attains the peak value at $M_{\rm halo} \sim 10^{12} {\rm M}_\odot$ throughout the cosmic time. Using a simple galaxy evolution model including mergers, we show that this feature is the fundamental cause of the morphological sequence. Halos hosting massive galaxies, which stay more massive than this peak mass for long periods during their growth, merge mostly with satellite halos having larger galaxy mass fractions than themselves. Such mergers increase the bulge mass fraction efficiently. In contrast, host halos of low-mass galaxies evolve under unfavorable condition for bulge growth because they stay below the peak mass and merge with satellite halos with smaller galaxy mass fractions. Previous studies suggest that the peak in galaxy mass fraction is created by feedback processes from active galactic nuclei (AGN) and young massive stars including supernovae (SN), which are considered to suppress star formation in high-mass and low-mass galaxies, respectively. This study thus points to a close relationship between the galaxy morphology and feedback processes which have hitherto been considered unrelated and suggests the importance of further investigation into their causal relationship.
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High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

Potential periodic signals in blazars: significance, forecasting, and deep learning

M. A. Hashad, A. Hammad and Amr A. EL-Zant

Blazars exhibit variable emission on diverse timescales. Some light curves show signs of quasiperiodic oscillations (QPOs), which may encode clues regarding the physical processes behind the emission or point to supermassive binary black holes. We analyzed five blazars with previously reported high significance year-long QPOs, applying the Lomb-Scargle periodogram and Weighted Wavelet Z-transform methods to Fermi-LAT data up to early 2025. We furthermore examined an additional source (PKS 0139-09), where nascent QPO may be present. As the light curves showed longer term trends, we detrended the data using an STL decomposition, which often revealed a large seasonal component. We find that detrending generally leads to an increase in the strength of the QPO signal. However, except for PG 1553+113, where a clearly persistent QPO signal is present, we detect transience on a timescale of $\lesssim$4000 days. We then forecast the light curves over the following four years, using a traditional statistical method as well as a Transformer-based deep learning model. Applied to a test set, the latter showed significant success in predicting behavior that seems unexpected from simple inspection of the past data. Analyzing the extended time series suggests a markedly weaker QPO signals over the coming years in cases where the transient behavior appears near the end of the observational data. In contrast, in the nascent candidate QPO source (PKS 0139-09) the signal is expected to strengthen significantly. These predictions, which may reflect the physical origin of the QPOs, can be tested against future data.
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High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

The Apparent Asymmetric Outflows of TeV Particles from Pulsar Winds

HongYu Pu and Siming Liu

Observations of X-ray filaments attached to a couple of powerful pulsars suggest escape of TeV electrons and/or positrons (e$^{\pm}$) from pulsar bow shocks into surrounding large scale magnetic fields. These filaments are usually asymmetric with very weak emission from the other side of the main filaments, and no significant spectral variation has been detected across these filaments, implying inefficient energy loss of emitting particles. We develop a Monte Carlo code to simulate particle transport in a large scale magnetic field and apply the model to PSR B2224+4415 (Guitar). It is shown that, with an injection power of a few tens of percent of the pulsar spin down luminosity, TeV e$^{\pm}$ can explain the observed filament properties with a scattering mean free path along the magnetic field comparable to the length of the observed filament. The model predicts a dim diffuse symmetric X-ray background aligned with the filament on a larger scale, whose flux is proportional to the X-ray emitting e$^{\pm}$ energy loss time for a stable e$^{\pm}$ injection power comparable to the luminosity of this diffuse background. Observations with a large field of view and good sensitivity should be able to detect such a component.
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High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

Magnetic-field Order in the Southwestern Rim of RCW 86 Constrained Using X-Ray Polarimetry

Stefano Silvestri, Dmitry Prokhorov, Jacco Vink et al. (+97 more)

RCW 86 is a supernova remnant whose origin has recently been linked to an off-center explosion within a cavity created by its progenitor star. In the southwestern region, the forward shock is thought to have reached the cavity wall, encountering diverse environmental conditions. We report on the spatially resolved X-ray polarimetric observation of RCW 86 with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE). In the 2–4.5 keV energy band we find no significant detection of polarization. Employing a dedicated background subtraction procedure and Bayesian spectropolarimetric fitting, we derive 99% upper limits on the polarization degree of the synchrotron component: 15% in higher-statistics regions and 30%–40% in lower-statistics regions. These upper limits on the polarization degree in several regions exclude the possibility of a strongly coherent magnetic field down to the subparsec scale, and that of a moderately coherent one on the scale of the synchrotron features as resolved by IXPE. The results indicate that the shocks in the southwestern rim of RCW 86 propagate more slowly than the unshocked ejecta at their locations, yet exceed the measured proper motion speeds. This behavior is consistent with reflected shocks occurring in tenuous regions of the shocked ejecta, distinct from regions that are radio-bright.
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All authors Stefano Silvestri, Dmitry Prokhorov, Jacco Vink, Patrick Slane, Yi-Jung Yang, Niccolo Bucciantini, Riccardo Ferrazzoli, Ping Zhou, Enrico Costa, Nicola Omodei, Chi-Yung Ng, Paolo Soffitta, Martin C. Weisskopf, Luca Baldini, Alessandro Di Marco, Victor Doroshenko, Jeremy Heyl, Philip Kaaret, Frederic Marin, Tsunefumi Mizuno, Melissa Pesce-Rollins, Carmelo Sgro, Douglas A. Swartz, Toru Tamagawa, Fei Xie, Ivan Agudo, Lucio A. Antonelli, Matteo Bachetti, Wayne H. Baumgartner, Ronaldo Bellazzini, Stefano Bianchi, Stephen D. Bongiorno, Raffaella Bonino, Alessandro Brez, Fiamma Capitanio, Simone Castellano, Elisabetta Cavazzuti, Chien-Ting Chen, Stefano Ciprini, Alessandra De Rosa, Ettore Del Monte, Laura Di Gesu, Niccolo Di Lalla, Immacolata Donnarumma, Michal Dovciak, Steven R. Ehlert, Teruaki Enoto, Yuri Evangelista, Sergio Fabiani, Javier A. Garcia, Shuichi Gunji, Kiyoshi Hayashida, Wataru Iwakiri, Svetlana G. Jorstad, Vladimir Karas, Fabian Kislat, Takao Kitaguchi, Jeffery J. Kolodziejczak, Henric Krawczynski, Fabio La Monaca, Luca Latronico, Ioannis Liodakis, Simone Maldera, Alberto Manfreda, Andrea Marinucci, Alan P. Marscher, Herman L. Marshall, Francesco Massaro, Giorgio Matt, Ikuyuki Mitsuishi, Fabio Muleri, Michela Negro, Stephen L. O'Dell, Chiara Oppedisano, Alessandro Papitto, George G. Pavlov, Abel L. Peirson, Matteo Perri, Pierre-Olivier Petrucci, Maura Pilia, Andrea Possenti, Juri Poutanen, Simonetta Puccetti, Brian D. Ramsey, John Rankin, Ajay Ratheesh, Oliver J. Roberts, Roger W. Romani, Gloria Spandre, Fabrizio Tavecchio, Roberto Taverna, Yuzuru Tawara, Allyn F. Tennant, Nicholas E. Thomas, Francesco Tombesi, Alessio Trois, Sergey S. Tsygankov, Roberto Turolla, Kinwah Wu, Silvia Zane

Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics

Astrometric properties of reference frame sources as a function of redshift

Zhiyun Zhang, N. Liu, Xiaxuan Zhang et al. (+8 more)

Previous studies based on the latest realisation of the International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF3) have suggested a correlation between astrometric properties (such as the radio-optical offset) and redshift for active galactic nuclei (AGNs). We extend these investigations by using a large, all-sky sample of approximately 22,000 compact radio sources from the Radio Fundamental Catalogue (RFC) to examine this relationship in a systematic and statistically robust manner. We compiled redshifts for about 10,000 RFC sources over the range 0 < z < 5 by combining data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument Data Release 1 and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 17/19 with additional datasets from the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database. Cross-matching with Gaia Data Release 3 yielded a sample of 4,068 RFC objects with reliable spectroscopic redshifts and classifications, including galaxies and quasi-stellar objects (QSOs). We analysed the redshift dependence of their radio astrometric properties from very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) and their optical astrometric properties from Gaia. We find that the VLBI astrometric properties show no significant dependence on redshift within the achieved level of precision. In contrast, several optical astrometric quantities exhibit clear redshift-dependent behaviour. The median absolute radio-optical offsets decrease markedly over 0 < z < 0.5, where galaxies dominate the sample, decline more gradually over 0.5 < z < 1.3, and exhibit a mild increase at z > 1.3, where QSOs dominate. Similar behaviour is observed for several Gaia astrometric quantities, including astrometric uncertainties, proper motions, and G magnitudes. These behaviours can be largely explained by the dependence of Gaia astrometric performance on G magnitude and by the evolution of the G magnitude with redshift.
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All authors Zhiyun Zhang, N. Liu, Xiaxuan Zhang, I. Nurul Huda, Sufen Guo, Z. Zhu, J.-C. Liu, J. Yao, Z.-W. Wang, H.-F. Yu, D.-D. Zhang

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Cross-listed from nucl-th

Nuclear Pasta and Crustal Quasi-Periodic Oscillations in Neutron Star

Vishal Parmar and Ignazio Bombaci

We investigate the impact of nuclear pasta on crustal structure and torsional oscillations using a Bayesian ensemble of unified neutron-star equations of state based on relativistic mean-field models constrained by nuclear experiments, empirical saturation properties, chiral effective field theory, and multimessenger observations. For each posterior sample, we compute the pasta sequence within a compressible liquid-drop model and quantify the onset density, thickness, and mass fraction of the pasta layers. We show that the appearance and extent of nuclear pasta are primarily controlled by the symmetry-energy slope parameter $L$. While spherical and rod-like pasta configurations are present for all equations of state, only a small fraction of the posterior supports slab, tube, or bubble geometries. The transition from spherical nuclei to rods is tightly constrained to occur at a density of $\rho_{\rm sr} = 0.0588^{+0.0045}_{-0.0065}\,\mathrm{fm^{-3}}$. We further predict that the nuclear pasta layer occupies a relative radial thickness of $\Delta R_{\rm pasta}/\Delta R_{\rm c} = 0.140^{+0.025}_{-0.036}$ and contributes a relative mass fraction of $\Delta M_{\rm pasta}/\Delta M_{\rm c} = 0.475^{+0.071}_{-0.113}$. Using the resulting crust models, we present the first quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) analysis based on a Bayesian posterior ensemble of neutron-star equations of state and systematically assess their compatibility with observed low-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations. We find that the predicted QPO frequencies are strongly correlated with the curvature of the symmetry energy evaluated at sub-saturation density, $K_{\rm sym}(\rho_0/2)$, and that uncertainties in the equation of state translate into a range of angular indices $\ell$ consistent with the observed frequencies.
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Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics

Exponential Quintessence Model: Analytical Quantification of the Fine-Tuning Problem in Dark Energy

Naoto Maki and Kazunori Kohri

In this paper, we investigate a quintessence field with an exponential potential motivated by the suggestion of time-varying dark energy from the DESI galaxy survey. Assuming a kination epoch in the early Universe, we analytically derive constraints on initial conditions that are consistent with Big Bang Nucleosynthesis and the current dark energy density. Compared to the severe 120-digit fine-tuning required for dark energy to be a cosmological constant, our result suggests that the degree of fine-tuning is naturally relaxed by dozens of orders of magnitude. Furthermore, we discuss the method for testing this model through future observations of the gravitational wave background.
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High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Cross-listed from gr-qc

The Role of Inhomogeneities in the Turbulent Accretion of Black Holes

Giuseppe Ficarra, Michele Arcuri, Rita Megale et al. (+1 more)

Observations of supermassive black holes by the Event Horizon Telescope reveal significant inhomogeneities, most likely related to density and magnetic field perturbations. To model these features, we conduct high-resolution 2D general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (GRMHD) simulations of a Fishbone-Moncrief torus around a Kerr black hole using the Black Hole Accretion Code $\texttt{BHAC}$. We compare unperturbed accretion with a case featuring plasma density bubbles with pressure balanced magnetic islands of different amplitudes. Power spectrum analysis of accretion time series, performed via the Blackman-Tukey method, shows that the perturbed case exhibits (1) steeper spectral indices compared to the unperturbed case, deviating from the characteristic $1/\omega$ noise spectrum, and (2) increased correlation times, providing evidence for absorption of macro-structures at the event horizon. Spatial auto-correlation analysis of near-horizon turbulence confirms larger energy-containing coherent structures in the perturbed case altering the accretion rate. These results provide new insights for interpreting observations of supermassive black hole environments, where near-horizon turbulence may play a key role in the accretion process.
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All authors Giuseppe Ficarra, Michele Arcuri, Rita Megale, Sergio Servidio

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics

On gravitational baryogenesis in inflationary $f(R)$ Cosmologies

Ian B. Whittingham

The present study investigates the feasibility of generating the observed baryon-antibaryon asymmetry of the Universe $\eta$ by gravitational baryogenesis during the inflationary phase of two $f(R)$ modified theories of gravity: the widely used Starobinsky $f(R)=R+R^{2}/M^{2}$ model, and the recently proposed power-law model $f(R)=c_{1}R^{2+k/4}+c_{2}R+c_{3}$ of Odintsov and Oikonomou (2025). The present investigation is undertaken in the Einstein frame. The motion of the scalaron is studied for the slow roll inflationary era using analytic approximate solutions. Some of the expressions for the Starobinsky model were obtained first by Motohashi and Nishizawa (2012) but the expressions for the power-law model of Odintsov and Oikonomou and its generalization are new. Although the values of $\eta$ calculated for both models are quite close to the observed value, they are based upon several assumptions that qualify these results. Asymmetries generated before the end of inflation must be diluted, making agreement with observation difficult to achieve unless baryogenesis occurs at the end of the inflation era. The calculations also assume rapid thermalization of the plasma of the gravitationally produced particles, and that the interaction rate of the baryon-violating processes is greater than the expansion rate of the Universe until decoupling. The present calculations strongly violate these assumptions and would require significant variation of input parameters, which is excluded by CMB observations, to obtain agreement. A complete treatment of thermalization of the gravitationally produced plasma, baryon-number violating freeze-out, and entropy dilution is required to establish whether or not gravitational baryogenesis during slow-roll inflation is a viable mechanism for producing the observed baryon asymmetry of the Universe for these inflationary $f(R)$ cosmologies.
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Astrophysics of Galaxies

The Optical Properties of Host Galaxies of Radio Sources in the Coma Cluster

Xiaolan Hou, Heng Yu, Tong Pan et al. (+4 more)

We present a comprehensive study of host galaxies of radio sources within the 1.35$R_{200}$ of the Coma cluster by combining deep 144MHz observations from the LOFAR Two-Metre Sky Survey (LoTSS-DR2) with optical spectroscopy and photometry from DESI and SDSS. We identify 79 spectroscopically confirmed cluster members with reliable radio emission and classify them into compact, extended, and tailed subsamples according to their radio morphologies. By combining their radio and optical properties, we find compact radio sources are predominantly associated with massive, quiescent galaxies driven by AGN activity, while tailed sources are largely hosted by star-forming galaxies, tracing ongoing ram pressure stripping (RPS). Using phase-space analysis and a projected infall time proxy ($d_R$), we find that extended sources are preferentially located in the cluster outskirts ($d_R > 1$), while tailed sources are concentrated in the intermediate infall region ($0.4 < d_R < 1.0$), highlighting the influence of the dense intracluster medium.
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All authors Xiaolan Hou, Heng Yu, Tong Pan, Hu Zou, Haoran Dou, Emily Moravec, Chengkui Li

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics

Evidence for Log-Periodic Modulation in the Redshift Distribution of High-Redshift Compact Sources

Takeshi Fukuyama

We investigate whether the redshift distribution of high-redshift compact sources identified in early James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) observations contains a statistically coherent periodic component in the logarithmic redshift variable $x=\ln(1+z)$. Using a publicly available catalog of 341 sources, we perform an unbinned frequency analysis in which the smooth redshift dependence is removed using a baseline probability distribution. The resulting baseline-corrected power spectrum exhibits a prominent feature at $\omega_{\rm peak}=18.33$, corresponding to a logarithmic spacing $\Delta x\simeq0.34$, or a multiplicative spacing of approximately 1.41 in $1+z$. Monte Carlo realizations of the smooth null model give a local tail probability $p_{\rm local}\simeq2.8\times10^{-3}$. Accounting for the frequency scan over the theoretically motivated interval $16\leq\omega\leq21$ gives a global false-alarm probability $p_{\rm global}\simeq7.6\times10^{-3}$. Cross-validation, repeated train/test holdout analyses, and field-dependent tests are used to examine the robustness of the feature against statistical fluctuations and sample heterogeneity. The statistical analysis is independent of the physical nature of the individual compact sources. If confirmed with larger and more homogeneous samples, an approximately constant spacing in $\ln(1+z)$ would indicate a preferred multiplicative scale in the high-redshift source distribution. Recurrent cosmological condensate dynamics provide one possible physical interpretation, but the statistical result itself does not depend on this mechanism.
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2602.19044 · 22 Feb · 12 pages, 3 figures Substantially revised version. Statistical analysis strengthened with look-elsewhere-corrected global significance, cross-validation, repeated holdout tests, and field-dependent robustness analysis. The observational/statistical result is now clearly separated from its possible physical interpretation

Abstract PDF $RDSH ×7$TSCP ×1

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

Evidence of Nuclear Urca Process in the Ocean of Neutron-Star Superburst MAXI J1752$-$457

Hao Huang, Akira Dohi, Amira Aoyama et al. (+2 more)

We propose that the rapid cooling of the neutron star following its X-ray superburst in MAXI J1752$-$457 over a period of 4 days, observed by two Japanese satellites, MAXI and NinjaSat, is due to enhanced neutrino emission from cycles of electron capture and $\beta^{-}$ decay involving odd-$A$ nuclei (or Urca pairs) in the ocean. Hence, this work provides the first indication of the possible existence of such a “nuclear Urca process". The observation of MAXI J1752$-$457 implies a hot ignition layer with a maximum temperature of $\sim 4~{\rm GK}$, located near the Urca shell in the ocean, such that the nuclear Urca process becomes dominant for up to $\sim 2$ days after the superburst. This behavior is distinct from that of normal Type-I X-ray bursts, which are triggered by hydrogen or helium burning in much shallower layers than those of superbursts. Our findings enable probing of superburst ashes through Urca pairs via long-term monitoring of crust cooling on day-long timescales.
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All authors Hao Huang, Akira Dohi, Amira Aoyama, Tomoshi Takeda, Nobuya Nishimura

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

SN 2017hcc and SN 2023usc a comparative spectroscopic study of type IIn supernovae

Sethulakshmi Vazhayil, Firoza K. Sutaria, Riddhiman Sharma et al. (+1 more)

We report on a spectroscopic study of the bright, nearby type-IIn supernova SN 2017hcc, and SN 2023usc using data obtained from the Himalayan Chandra Telescope (HCT). SN 2017hcc is well-studied event, and our sampling covers 7 epochs, starting from +14\,d post explosion, and continuing into the nebular stage, at +411\,d. The type-IIn event SN 2023usc was sampled over 5 epochs from +12\,d to +155\,d post explosion. The nearly featureless (except H$\alpha$) late time (+62\,d onward) spectra of SN 2023usc, suggests a novel explosion route for this type-IIn event. Assuming a CSM model created by multi-epoch ejection of material from the pre-explosion progenitor, we present here a comparative study of both events with several other type-IIn / interacting supernovae in progenitors with persistent signatures of a CSM. We find that true narrow lines ($v \ll 1000$\,km\,s$^{-1}$) emerge in the early ($\sim$ +10\,d) spectra only in few events (SN 2017hcc, SN 2023usc and SN 2010jl) initially classified as type-IIn in our sample – in most cases the line velocity hovers at $\sim 1000$\,km\,s$^{-1}$ even in the very early epochs. CSM line velocity being indicative of its extent and opacity, this suggests that progenitors with a highly extended CSMs, which are also optically transparent in their outer regions may be relatively rare.
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All authors Sethulakshmi Vazhayil, Firoza K. Sutaria, Riddhiman Sharma, Alak K.Ray

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Cross-listed from gr-qc

Testing the Spacetime Geometry of Sgr A* with the Relativistic Orbit of S2 star

Parth Bambhaniya, Preet Dalal, Giovani H. Vicentin et al. (+3 more)

In this work, we perform a relativistic test of the spacetime geometry of Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) using the orbit of the S2 star. We consider a broad class of compact object models, including Schwarzschild, Reissner-Nordström, Bardeen, Hayward, and Simpson-Visser black holes, as well as the Janis-Newman-Winicour naked singularity spacetime. For each geometry, we integrate the timelike geodesic equations and consistently project the resulting trajectories onto astrometric and spectroscopic observables, incorporating Rømer time delay and relativistic redshift effects. The theoretical predictions are tested with current Very Large Telescope (VLT) observations of the S2 star, while simultaneously imposing constraints from the Event Horizon Telescope shadow size. We find that several spacetimes that are degenerate at the level of shadow imaging, most notably Schwarzschild, Reissner-Nordström, and Bardeen regular black hole geometries, remain statistically indistinguishable when tested against present S2 data. We further carry out a statistical model comparison based on the Akaike and Bayesian information criteria (AIC and BIC) to evaluate the relative performance of the alternative spacetime models. Our analysis also constrains the generalized charge like parameter $q/M$ in non-Schwarzschild spacetimes based on current S2 star observations, and identifies specific black hole and horizonless geometries that can be further tested with forthcoming high precision astrometric observations from the VLT and Keck telescopes.
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All authors Parth Bambhaniya, Preet Dalal, Giovani H. Vicentin, Riccardo Della Monica, Elisabete M. de Gouveia Dal Pino, Bina Patel

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics

Tempawral: A Time-Resolved Retrieval Framework for Variable Brown Dwarfs and Exoplanets

Fei Wang, Ben Burningham, Stuart Littlefair et al. (+4 more)

Brown dwarfs and exoplanets are thought to host complex atmospheric phenomena such as clouds, storms, and chemical heterogeneity, akin to weather patterns on Earth. These features can produce pronounced spectral variability. Time-variability monitoring provides a unique window into surface inhomogeneities that cannot be directly resolved with foreseeable imaging technology. Current time-series analysis techniques have provided qualitative constraints on variability mechanisms but lack the ability to quantitatively estimate the extent of variation on atmospheric properties. We present Tempawral, the first data-driven time-resolved atmospheric retrieval framework that quantitatively retrieving variability in atmospheric parameters via an eigen-spectra inversion technique, leveraging the full spectra dataset. We validate this method on simulated time-series spectra of a variable brown dwarf, demonstrating that it successfully recovers key variability drivers, including inhomogeneous cloud coverage, evolving chemical abundances, and changes in temperature structure. We further showcase the utility of Tempawral by applying it to JWST/NIRISS-SOSS time-series observations of a highly variable T2.5 brown dwarf. The observed variability is best explained by a $\sim$300 K temperature perturbation near the 1-bar, accompanied by variations in the abundances of $\rm H_{2}O$, $\rm CO$, $\rm FeH$, as well as changes in the thickness of the iron cloud deck. This work provides a generalized framework for time-resolved atmospheric retrievals in the JWST era, enabling comprehensive interpretations of dynamic atmospheric processes in substellar objects.
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All authors Fei Wang, Ben Burningham, Stuart Littlefair, Etienne Artigau, Yuka Fujii, Jacqueline K. Faherty, Johanna M. Vos

Saturday 21 February

Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics

The ngVLA Band-4 Water Vapor Radiometry Concept

Tirupati Kumara Sridharan, Robert Lehmensiek and Yoshiharu Asaki

The ngVLA has adopted a standalone system with a $\sim$~1.5 m diameter antenna and associated ambient temperature receiver and electronics at each antenna as its baseline design for water vapor radiometer (WVR). The WVR is intended to decrease calibration overheads for tropospheric phase correction for the high frequency bands (5 & 6; 30.5-116 GHz) to levels lower than feasible with fast switched reference gain calibration. In this memo, we present an alternative concept utilizing the standard Band-4 science receivers and the main antennas. This would require the Band-4 feed to be placed between those of Bands 5 & 6 resulting in a beam offset of 0.8 deg, similar to the beam size of the standalone 1.5 m antenna. The main benefits of the Band-4 WVR concept are: (1) sensing water vapor in a region more representative of the Band 5 & 6 science beams in the lower layers of the troposphere, in the near-field of the 18 m antenna, than the 1.5 m antenna (2) significantly relaxing the stability requirements due to the lower receiver temperature of the standard Band-4 cryogenic receiver and (3) eliminating the procurement, deployment, and maintenance of a large number of standalone units. Given these advantages, it is recommended that the details and the pros and cons of Band-4 WVR implementation compared a standalone system be carefully considered.
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Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics

Variational views for self-supervised learning in radio astronomy

Johnny Joseph Alphonse and Anna M. M. Scaife

Modern astronomical surveys are producing progressively larger and more complex datasets, making traditional supervised approaches that rely on extensive labelled catalogues increasingly difficult. Consequently, pre-training using self-supervised learning (SSL), which offers a scalable route by extracting structure directly from unlabelled images, is becoming attractive for many downstream applications. In this work we consider the use of coupled self-supervised representation learning approaches for radio galaxy morphology pre-training. In order to account for the more nuanced variations in radio galaxy morphology than are typically included in the augmented views of view-based SSL algorithms, we use a pre-trained Variational Autoencoder (VAE) to generate views for training a larger view-based self-supervised model. To do this, a $\beta$-VAE was trained on the Radio Galaxy Zoo (RGZ) dataset, where moderate regularization ($\beta = 2.3$) was found to provide a good balance between reconstruction quality and disentanglement of generative factors such as source multiplicity and lobe asymmetry. An analysis of the $\beta$-VAE reveals that Fanaroff-Riley class identity manifests as a continuous transition across the latent space, rather than being associated to a single discrete dimension. $\beta$-VAE reconstructions were then incorporated as generative augmentations within a view-based SSL pipeline. Our experiments show that combining these generative views with standard image augmentations improves downstream classification performance, and we present ablation studies clarifying the relative contribution of each augmentation type. These results indicate that generative and contrastive approaches are complementary, and point toward disentanglement-aware self-supervised learning as a promising direction for future radio astronomy surveys.
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Astrophysics of Galaxies

Characterization of Residual Morphological Substructure Using Supervised and Unsupervised Deep Learning

Kameswara Bharadwaj Mantha, Daniel H. McIntosh, Cody Ciaschi et al. (+9 more)

Automated characterization of galactic substructure is an essential step in understanding the transformative physical processes driving galaxy evolution. In this study, we investigate the application of deep learning (DL) frameworks to characterize different galactic substructures hosted within parametric light-profile subtracted “residual” images of a large sample galaxies from the CANDELS survey. We develop a supervised Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and unsupervised Convolutional Variational Autoencoder (CvAE) and train it on the single-Sérsic profile fitting based residual images of $10,046$ bright and massive galaxies ($H<24.5\,{\rm mag}$ and $M_{\rm stellar} \geq 10^{9.5}\,M_{\odot}$) spanning $1<z<3$, in conjunction with their visual-based classification labels indicating the nature of residual substructures hosted within them. Using our unique data preprocessing approach, we prepare our residual images such that the inputs to our DL networks comprise only “galaxy of interest”, and augment them such that our sample span uniformly across different residual characteristics. We assess the latent space of the CNN and CvAE using Principle Component Analysis (PCA) along with independently quantified metrics of residual strength (significant pixel flux $SPF$, Bumpiness, and Residual Flux Fraction). We also employ an unsupervised Gaussian Mixture Modeling (GMM) based clustering scheme with Support Vector Classification (SVC) to identify groupings in PCA space that correspond to similar residual substructure. We find that our supervised CNN latent features in PCA space correlate with the $SPF$ values and distinguish between qualitatively strong and weak residual substructures. While our unsupervised CvAE latent space also correlates with visual and quantitative residual characteristics, but lacks clear discriminatory power when characterizing different residual substructures.
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All authors Kameswara Bharadwaj Mantha, Daniel H. McIntosh, Cody Ciaschi, Rubyet Evan, Luther Landry, Henry C. Ferguson, Camilla Pacifici, Joel Primack, Nimish Hathi, Anton Koekemoer, Yicheng Guo, The CANDELS Collaboration

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics

Exploring the Universe Expansion History with f(R,T) Gravity: Constraints on Cosmological Parameters

Mustapha Lamaaoune

This work examines the cosmological implications of two functional forms of $f(R,T) = R + \alpha T^n$ gravity: for two different value of $n $ where $n=1$ and $n\neq 1$, and $\alpha$ and $n$ are free parameters. The modified Friedmann equations are derived, and the cosmic evolution of the Hubble parameter $H(z)$ is determined. Cosmological parameters are estimated through $\chi^2$ minimization and MCMC analysis using the emcee algorithm, with model parameters constrained by various observational datasets. Both models reproduce late-time acceleration and remain observationally indistinguishable from $\Lambda$CDM, while allowing small deviations parameterized by $\alpha$ and $n$. The cosmological behavior of the deceleration parameter $q(z)$, the jerk, the snap parameter $s(z)$, and the effective equation of state parameter $\omega$ is also analyzed. The results indicate that the Universe transitioned from deceleration to late-time accelerated expansion, consistent with the $\Lambda$CDM model. Analysis of the energy conditions reveals that the NEC and DEC are satisfied, while the SEC is violated, which explains the transition from a decelerating matter-dominated epoch to the present accelerated phase. These findings indicate that the proposed $f(R,T)$ models are compatible with current observational data and provide a viable alternative to $\Lambda$CDM in describing cosmic acceleration.
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Earth and Planetary Astrophysics

The Martian mid-latitude subsurface ice is the remnant of a past ice sheet

E. Vos, F. Forget, L. Lange et al. (+3 more)

On Mars, a relatively pure water ice layer lies beneath several centimeters of dry soil at mid-latitudes. Its widespread presence poleward of 60{\deg} latitude was detected by remote neutron spectroscopy and confirmed by the Phoenix lander at 68{\deg}N. Recent observations of exposed ice indicate that the near-surface ice layer extends to 35{\deg} latitude and exhibits pronounced spatial structure. However, previous models did not capture the observed spatial structure of the midlatitude ice layer. Here, on the basis of improved calculations using the Mars Planetary Climate Model, we show that mid-latitude buried ice could be the remnant of a ice layer deposited on the surface when the obliquity was higher than today. Assuming that the ice subsequently sublimated and became buried beneath a sublimation lag, we estimate that surface ice emplaced 630 kyr (4.18 Myr) ago at 35{\deg} obliquity (40{\deg}), at latitudes of 40-55{\deg}N, would today reside at depths of 25-150 (41-255) cm, depending on the regolith and ice properties. For ice emplaced 630 kyr ago, the modeled burial depths align with observations and capture the observed longitudinal depth variations, in contrast to ice emplaced 4.18 Myr ago. We therefore infer that the mid-latitude subsurface ice is younger than 4 Myr.
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All authors E. Vos, F. Forget, L. Lange, J. Naar, J.B. Clement, E. Millour

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

Discovery of burst oscillations in the newly discovered millisecond X-ray pulsar SRGA J144459.2$-$604207

Manoj Mandal and Sachindra Naik

Burst oscillations during thermonuclear X-ray bursts are powered by thermonuclear energy on the neutron star (NS) surface and typically occur close to the spin frequency of the NS. We performed a comprehensive timing analysis of all thermonuclear bursts from the newly discovered millisecond X-ray pulsar SRGA J144459.2$-$604207, observed with NICER, XMM-Newton, and NuSTAR during the 2024 outburst. A total of 39 bursts were detected, allowing for a detailed search for burst oscillations, which had not been previously observed from this source. We report the discovery of burst oscillations at 447.7$-$448.0 Hz from SRGA J144459.2$-$604207 using XMM-Newton and NuSTAR data, consistent with the spin frequency of the NS. The strongest burst oscillation in the XMM-Newton data occurred with a single-trial significance of $5.1\sigma$ and maximum $Z^2$ power of $\sim31$. In the NuSTAR data, the strongest oscillation signal has a significance of $5.2\sigma$ and maximum $Z^2$ power of $\sim32$. The folded pulse profile corresponding to the strongest signal in the 0.5-10 keV band of the XMM-Newton data shows a sinusoidal shape with a fractional rms amplitude of $\sim8.5\%$, while the measurements of the NuSTAR data (3-40 keV range) yield $\sim21\%$. These results represent the first detection of burst oscillations in SRGA J144459.2$-$604207. Additionally, we report the detection of 447.6 Hz oscillations occurring just before a burst onset observed with XMM-Newton. This marks only the second instance in which burst oscillations have been observed before the burst onset.
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Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics

Cosmological constraints from a joint DESI DR1 Full-Shape and DR2 BAO

D. Forero-Sánchez, H. Gil-Marín, L. Verde et al. (+61 more)

We present a cosmological analysis combining full-shape (FS) clustering measurements from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) DR1 with baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) measurements from DESI DR2. To achieve a robust combination that accounts for the correlation between the two data releases, we employ the ShapeFit compression method and estimate the joint covariance using EZmocks. This compressed approach inherently mitigates the prior volume effects that have previously dominated Bayesian constraints from DESI data with minimal external priors. Consequently, we obtain–for the first time within a Bayesian framework–reliable DESI-only constraints on extensions to $\Lambda$CDM using only a Big Bang Nucleosynthesis prior on the baryon density and a wide prior on the spectral index. In flat $\Lambda$CDM, we find $\Omega_m = 0.3035 \pm 0.0085$, $h = 0.6876 \pm 0.0059$, and $\sigma_8 = 0.822 \pm 0.034$. For the $w_0 w_a$CDM dynamical dark energy model, we measure $w_0 = 0.49 \pm 0.25$ and $w_a = -1.52 \pm 0.77$, improving constraints by $\sim 30\%$ relative to the analogous DR1 measurement and reducing the discrepancy with $\Lambda$CDM to $1.4\sigma$ when compared to BAO only analyses. We also report competitive limits on the sum of neutrino masses and spatial curvature. This work demonstrates that the ShapeFit compression provides a prior-robust and computationally efficient pathway to constrain beyond-$\Lambda$CDM physics with large-scale structure.
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All authors D. Forero-Sánchez, H. Gil-Marín, L. Verde, Z. Ding, A. J. Ross, A. Carnero Rosell, J. Aguilar, S. Ahlen, S. Bailey, D. Bianchi, C. Blake, A. Brodzeller, D. Brooks, R. Canning, F. J. Castander, T. Claybaugh, S. Cole, A. Cuceu, A. de la Macorra, Arjun Dey, P. Doel, S. Ferraro, A. Font-Ribera, J. E. Forero-Romero, E. Gaztañaga, G. Gutierrez, J. Guy, C. Hahn, H. K. Herrera-Alcantar, K. Honscheid, D. Huterer, M. Ishak, R. Joyce, S. Juneau, R. Kehoe, D. Kirkby, T. Kisner, J. Kneib, A. Kremin, O. Lahav, C. Lamman, M. Landriau, L. Le Guillou, M. Manera, A. Meisner, R. Miquel, J. Moustakas, G. Niz, N. Palanque-Delabrouille, W. J. Percival, F. Prada, I. Pérez-Ràfols, G. Rossi, E. Sanchez, E. F. Schlafly, D. Schlegel, H. Seo, J. Silber, D. Sprayberry, G. Tarlé, B. A. Weaver, C. Zhao, R. Zhou, H. Zou

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics

Variable Red Giants Exploration with MASTER Robotic Net: Main Algorithms and Study of Three Mira-type Targets

Alexander N. Tarasenkov, Vladimir M. Lipunov, Artem S. Kuznetsov et al. (+4 more)

We are discussing the capabilities of MASTER network of robotic telescopes to study variable red giant stars. We report the discovery and present archival light curves for three optical transients, connected with long period variable red giants, based on MASTER Robotic Net all-sky survey observations and archival MASTER light curves at Lomonosov database storage. We demonstrate transient detection frames and light curves for three Mira-type variables: MASTER OT $J083717.54-573411.1$, MASTER OT $J190436.33+192828.7$ and MASTER OT $J07010810-6818548$. Spectroscopically validated carbon star MASTER OT $J07010810-6818548$ shows mean magnitude growth but constant pulsation period which may indicate the presence of a long secondary period. As the result of MASTER wide-field images analysis at Lomonosov supercomputer data storage we present the 8-years historical light curves for all three objects with period calculations for all three Mira-type variables. We estimated fundamental astrophysical parameters for all three Mira-type variables: luminosities, radii, and zero age main sequence (ZAMS) masses.
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All authors Alexander N. Tarasenkov, Vladimir M. Lipunov, Artem S. Kuznetsov, Gleb A. Antipov, Pavel V. Balanutsa, Nataly V. Tyurina, Yakov Yu. Kechin