Abstract
AM CVn systems are a rare type of accreting binary that consists of a white dwarf and a helium-rich, degenerate donor star. Using the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF), we searched for new AM ...CVn systems by focusing on blue, outbursting stars. We first selected outbursting stars using the ZTF alerts. We cross matched the candidates with Gaia and Pan-STARRS catalogs. The initial selection of candidates based on the Gaia BP-RP contains 1751 unknown objects. We used the Pan-STARRS
g
-
r
and
r
-
i
color in combination with the Gaia color to identify 59 strong AM CVn candidates. We obtained identification spectra of 35 sources, of which 18 are high-priority candidates, and discovered nine new AM CVn systems and one magnetic CV that shows only He-
ii
lines. Using the outburst recurrence time, we estimate the orbital periods of the nine new AM CVn systems that are in the range of 29–50 minutes. We conclude that targeted follow up of blue, outbursting sources is an efficient method to find new AM CVn systems and we plan to follow up all candidates we identified to systematically study the population of outbursting AM CVn systems.
Abstract
Using images from the Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys, we measure the rate of cooling of white dwarfs in the globular cluster 47 Tucanae and compare it to modelled cooling ...curves. We examine the effects of the outer convective envelope reaching the nearly isothermal degenerate core and the release of latent heat during core crystallization on the white dwarf cooling rates. For white dwarfs typical of 47 Tuc, the onset of these effects occur at similar times. The latent heat released during crystallization is a small heat source. In contrast, the heat reservoir of the degenerate core is substantially larger. When the convective envelope reaches the nearly isothermal interior of the white dwarf, the star becomes brighter than it would be in the absence of this effect. Our modelled cooling curves that include this convective coupling closely match the observed luminosity function of the white dwarfs in 47 Tuc.
When a star exhausts its nuclear fuel, it either explodes as a supernova or more quiescently becomes a white dwarf, an object about half the mass of our Sun with a radius of about that of the Earth. ...About one-fifth of white dwarfs exhibit the presence of magnetic fields, whose origin has long been debated as either the product of previous stages of evolution or of binary interactions. We here report the discovery of two massive and magnetic white-dwarf members of young star clusters in the Gaia second data release (DR2) database, while a third massive and magnetic cluster white dwarf was already reported in a previous paper. These stars are most likely the product of single-star evolution and therefore challenge the merger scenario as the only way to produce magnetic white dwarfs. The progenitor masses of these stars are all above 5 solar masses, and there are only two other cluster white dwarfs whose distances have been unambiguously measured with Gaia and whose progenitors' masses fall in this range. This high incidence of magnetic white dwarfs indicates that intermediate-mass progenitors are more likely to produce magnetic remnants and that a fraction of magnetic white dwarfs forms from intermediate-mass stars.
The recent discovery of gravitational radiation from merging black holes poses a challenge of how to organize the electromagnetic follow-up of gravitational-wave events as well as observed bursts of ...neutrinos. We propose a technique to select the galaxies that are most likely to host the event given some assumptions of whether the particular event is associated with recent star formation, low-metallicity stars or simply proportional to the total stellar mass in the galaxy. We combine data from the 2-MASS Photometric Redshift Galaxy Catalogue with results from galaxy formation simulations to develop observing strategies that potentially reduce the area of sky to search by up to a factor of 2 relative to an unweighted search of galaxies, and a factor of 20 to a search over the entire LIGO localization region.
Background
Exercise‐induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) reflects poor asthma control. Assessing noninvasive biomarkers associated with EIB could help to monitor patients in the pediatric age.
Aims
To ...test exhaled and urinary biomarkers for assessing EIB in atopic asthmatic children.
Methods
In 45 atopic patients (11.1 ± 1.8 years, 25 males) we measured the fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FENO), its alveolar (CaNO), and bronchial (J’awNO) components corrected for the trumpet shape of the airways and axial NO diffusion (TMAD), concentrations of urinary adenosine and 8‐hydroxy‐2'‐deoxyguanosine (8‐OxodG), blood eosinophils count, total immunoglobulin E , skin prick tests, and baseline spirometry before a treadmill exercise challenge. Forty healthy control subjects participated solely to baseline measurements.
Results
Patients yielded higher FENO and urinary adenosine concentrations than healthy controls. After the challenge, 18 patients (40%) had EIB; these patients had higher levels of CaNO, CaNO TMAD, and urinary adenosine than patients without EIB. Baseline spirometry, FE
NO, JawNO, JawNO TMAD, urinary 8‐OxodG, allergy, and blood eosinophil counts were found similar in both groups. In multiple linear regression, the fall in FEV
1 was explained by CaNO TMAD, urinary adenosine and blood eosinophil count, whereas the fall in FEF
25‐75 was explained by CaNO TMAD and blood eosinophil count. Both CaNO TMAD ≥10.5 ppb and urinary adenosine ≥406 nmol/mmol Cr predicted a fall in FEV
1 ≥10%, while only CaNO TMAD ≥10.5 ppb predicted a fall in FEF
25‐75 ≥26%.
Conclusion
Concentrations of peripheral airway NO are complementary with urinary adenosine for assessing EIB and promising tools of asthma control in pediatric patients with the atopic phenotype.
Of more than a thousand known cataclysmic variables (CVs), where a white dwarf is accreting from a hydrogen-rich star, only a dozen have orbital periods below 75 minutes1-9. One way to achieve these ...short periods requires the donor star to have undergone substantial nuclear evolution before interacting with the white dwarf10-14, and it is expected that these objects will transition to helium accretion. These transitional CVs have been proposed as progenitors of helium CVs13-18. However, no known transitional CV is expected to reach an orbital period short enough to account for most of the helium CV population, leaving the role of this evolutionary pathway unclear. Here we report observations of ZTFJ1813+4251, a 51-minute-orbital-period, fully eclipsing binary system consisting of a star with a temperature comparable to that of the Sun but a density 100 times greater owing to its helium-rich composition, accreting onto a white dwarf. Phase-resolved spectra, multi-band light curves and the broadband spectral energy distribution allow us to obtain precise and robust constraints on the masses, radii and temperatures of both components. Evolutionary modelling shows that ZTFJ1813+4251 is destined to become a helium CV binary, reaching an orbital period under 20 minutes, rendering ZTFJ1813+4251 a previously missing link between helium CV binaries and hydrogen-rich CVs.
IXPE Simulations for magnetars González-Caniulef, Denis; Caiazzo, Ilaria; Heyl, Jeremy
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union,
06/2020, Letnik:
16, Številka:
S363
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Due to the rich phenomenology and extreme magnetic conditions, magnetars will be targets of great interest for the upcoming polarimetry space missions. In particular, the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry ...Explorer (IXPE), recently launched in December 2021, will operate in the 2–8 keV range. This will open a new window to study the polarized, persistent X-ray emission from magnetars. In this talk, I will present simulations of IXPE observations of magnetars using the IXPEObsSim package. I will discuss future prospect to discriminate between different magnetar’s emission mechanisms, as well as a potential detection of the signal of vacuum birefringence using IXPE.
ABSTRACT
Cataclysmic variables (CVs) that have evolved past the period minimum during their lifetimes are predicted to be systems with a brown dwarf donor. While population synthesis models predict ...that around 40–70 per cent of the Galactic CVs are post-period minimum systems referred to as ‘period bouncers’, only a few dozen confirmed systems are known. We report the study and characterization of a new eclipsing CV, SRGeJ041130.3+685350 (SRGeJ0411), discovered from a joint SRG/eROSITA and ZTF programme. The optical spectrum of SRGeJ0411 shows prominent hydrogen and helium emission lines, typical for CVs. We obtained optical high-speed photometry to confirm the eclipse of SRGeJ0411 and determine the orbital period to be Porb ≈ 97.530 min. The spectral energy distribution suggests that the donor has an effective temperature of ≲ 1800 K. We constrain the donor mass with the period–density relationship for Roche lobe-filling stars and find that Mdonor ≲ 0.04 M⊙. The binary parameters are consistent with evolutionary models for post-period minimum CVs, suggesting that SRGeJ0411 is a new period bouncer. The optical emission lines of SRGeJ0411 are single-peaked despite the system being eclipsing, which is typically only seen due to stream-fed accretion in polars. X-ray spectroscopy hints that the white dwarf in SRGeJ0411 could be magnetic, but verifying the magnetic nature of SRGeJ0411 requires further investigation. The lack of optical outbursts has made SRGeJ0411 elusive in previous surveys, and joint X-ray and optical surveys highlight the potential for discovering similar systems in the near future.
Over a dozen millisecond pulsars are ablating low-mass companions in close binary systems. In the original 'black widow', the eight-hour orbital period eclipsing pulsar PSR J1959+2048 (PSR B1957+20)
..., high-energy emission originating from the pulsar
is irradiating and may eventually destroy
a low-mass companion. These systems are not only physical laboratories that reveal the interesting results of exposing a close companion star to the relativistic energy output of a pulsar, but are also believed to harbour some of the most massive neutron stars
, allowing for robust tests of the neutron star equation of state. Here we report observations of ZTF J1406+1222, a wide hierarchical triple hosting a 62-minute orbital period black widow candidate, the optical flux of which varies by a factor of more than ten. ZTF J1406+1222 pushes the boundaries of evolutionary models
, falling below the 80-minute minimum orbital period of hydrogen-rich systems. The wide tertiary companion is a rare low-metallicity cool subdwarf star, and the system has a Galactic halo orbit consistent with passing near the Galactic Centre, making it a probe of formation channels, neutron star kick physics
and binary evolution.
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