AAS NOVA — Research Highlights 2016

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AAS NOVA — Research Highlights 2016
American Astronomical Association

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Record-Breaking Eclipsing Binary
NOVA | American Astronomical Society | 2016 May 02

A new record holder exists for the longest-period eclipsing binary star system: TYC-2505-672-1. This intriguing system contains a primary star that is eclipsed by its companion once every 69 years — with each eclipse lasting several years! ...

An Extreme Analogue of ε Aurigae: an M-giant Eclipsed Every 69 Years
by a Large Opaque Disk Surrounding a Small Hot Source - Joseph E. Rodriguez et al

• Astronomical Journal 151(5):123 (2016 May) DOI: 10.3847/0004-6256/151/5/123
  arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1601.00135 > 02 Jan 2016 (v1), 11 Mar 2016 (v3)

http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?t=35660

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An Active Black Hole in a Compact Dwarf
NOVA | American Astronomical Society | 2016 May 04

A new type of galaxy has just been added to the galaxy zoo: a small, compact, and old elliptical galaxy that shows signs of a monster black hole actively accreting material in its center. What can this unusual discovery tell us about how compact elliptical galaxies form? ...

SDSS J085431.18+173730.5: The First Compact Elliptical Galaxy Hosting an Active Nucleus - Sanjaya Paudel et al

• Astrophysical Journal Letters 820(1):L19 (2016 Mar 20) DOI: 10.3847/2041-8205/820/1/L19
  arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1603.07832 > 25 Mar 2016

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Predicting Major Solar Eruptions
NOVA | American Astronomical Society | 2016 May 06

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and solar flares are two examples of major explosions from the surface of the Sun — but they’re not the same thing, and they don’t have to happen at the same time. A recent study examines whether we can predict which solar flares will be closely followed by larger-scale CMEs. ...

Predicting Coronal Mass Ejections Using Machine Learning Methods - Monica G. Bobra, Stathis Ilonidis

• Astrophysical Journal 821(2):127 (2016 Apr 20) DOI: 10.3847/0004-637X/821/2/127
  arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1603.03775 > 11 Mar 2016

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Giant Impacts on Earth-Like Worlds
NOVA | American Astronomical Society | 2016 May 09

Earth has experienced a large number of impacts, from the cratering events that may have caused mass extinctions to the enormous impact believed to have formed the Moon. A new study examines whether our planet’s impact history is typical for Earth-like worlds. ...

The Frequency of Giant impacts on Earth-like Worlds - Elisa V. Quintana et al

• Astrophysical Journal 821(2):126 (2016 Apr 20) DOI: 10.3847/0004-637X/821/2/126
  arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1511.03663 > 11 Nov 2015 (v1), 10 Mar 2016 (v2)

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A New Way to Confirm Planet Candidates
NOVA | American Astronomical Society | 2016 May 11

What was the big deal behind the Kepler news conference yesterday? It’s not just that the number of confirmed planets found by Kepler has more than doubled (though that’s certainly exciting news!). What’s especially interesting is the way in which these new planets were confirmed. ...

False Positive Probabilities for All Kepler Objects of Interest:
1,284 Newly Validated Planets and 428 Likely False Positives - Timothy D. Morton et al

• Astrophysical Journal 822(2):86 (10 May 2016) DOI: 10.3847/0004-637X/822/2/86
  arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1605.02825 > 10 May 2016

http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?t=35915

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A Bubble Triggering Star Formation
NOVA | American Astronomical Society | 2016 May 13

This remarkable false-color, mid-infrared image (click for the full view!) was produced by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). It captures a tantalizing view of Sh 2-207 and Sh 2-208, the latter of which is one of the lowest-metallicity star-forming regions in the Galaxy. In a recent study led by Chikako Yasui (University of Tokyo and the Koyama Astronomical Observatory), a team of scientists has examined this region to better understand how star formation in low-metallicity environments differs from that in the solar neighborhood. The authors’ analysis suggests that sequential star formation is taking place in these low-metallicity regions, triggered by an expanding bubble (the large dashed oval indicated in the image) with a ~30 pc radius. ...

Low-metallicity Young Clusters in the Outer Galaxy I. Sh 2-207 - Chikako Yasui et al

• Astronomical Journal 151(3):50 (2016 Mar) DOI: 10.3847/0004-6256/151/3/50
  arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1512.08582 > 29 Dec 2015

Low-metallicity Young Clusters in the Outer Galaxy. II. Sh 2-208 - Chikako Yasui et al

• Astronomical Journal 151(5):115 (2016 May) DOI: 10.3847/0004-6256/151/5/115
  arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1604.00144 > 01 Apr 2016

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Discovery of Methanol in a Planetary Birthplace
NOVA | American Astronomical Society | 2016 May 16

Data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has recently revealed the first detection of gas-phase methanol, a derivative of methane, in a protoplanetary disk. This milestone discovery is an important step in understanding the conditions for planet formation that can lead to life-supporting planets like Earth. ...

First Detection of Gas-phase Methanol in a Protoplanetary Disk - Catherine Walsh et al

• Astrophysical Journal Letters 823(1):L10 (2016 May 20) DOI: 10.3847/2041-8205/823/1/L10

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Reconnection on the Sun
NOVA | American Astronomical Society | 2016 May 18

Because the Sun is so close, it makes an excellent laboratory to study processes we can’t examine in distant stars. One open question is that of how solar magnetic fields rearrange themselves, producing the tremendous releases of energy we observe as solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). ...

Imaging a Magnetic-Breakout Solar Eruption - Yao Chen et al

• Astrophysical Journal Letters 820(2):L37 (2016 Apr 01) DOI: 10.3847/2041-8205/820/2/L37

Stereoscopic Observation of Slipping Reconnection in a Double Candle-flame-shaped Solar Flare - Tingyu Gou et al

• Astrophysical Journal Letters 821(2):L28 (2016 Apr 20) DOI: 10.3847/2041-8205/821/2/L28
  arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1604.01457 > 06 Apr 2016

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Building Halos by Digesting Satellites
NOVA | American Astronomical Society | 2016 May 20

We think galactic halos are built through the addition of material from the smaller subhalos of satellites digested by their hosts. Though most of the stars in Milky-Way-mass halos were probably formed in situ, many were instead accumulated over time, as orbiting dwarf galaxies were torn apart and their stars flung throughout the host galaxy. A recent set of simulations has examined this brutal formation process. ...

The Eating Habits of Milky Way-mass Halos: Destroyed Dwarf Satellites
and the Metallicity Distribution of Accreted Stars - Alis J. Deason, Yao-Yuan Mao, Risa H. Wechsler

• Astrophysical Journal 821(1):5 (2016 Apr 10) DOI: 10.3847/0004-637X/821/1/5
  arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1601.07905 > 28 Jan 2016

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A Comet’s Missing Light
NOVA | American Astronomical Society | 2016 May 23

On 28 November 2013, comet C/2012 S1 — better known as comet ISON — should have passed within two solar radii of the Sun’s surface as it reached perihelion in its orbit. But instead of shining in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) wavelengths as it grazed the solar surface, the comet was never detected by EUV instruments. What happened to comet ISON? ...

On the Absence of EUV Emission from Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) - Paul Bryans, W. Dean Pesnell

• Astrophysical Journal 822(2):77 (10 May 2016) DOI: 10.3847/0004-637X/822/2/77

http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?t=29625

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Clues from Pluto’s Ions
NOVA | American Astronomical Society | 2016 May 25

Nearly a year ago, in July 2015, the New Horizons spacecraft passed by the Pluto system. The wealth of data amassed from that flyby is still being analyzed — including data from the Solar Wind Around Pluto (SWAP) instrument. Recent examination of this data has revealed interesting new information about Pluto’s atmosphere and how the solar wind interacts with it. ...

Interplanetary Magnetic Field Sector from Solar Wind around Pluto (SWAP)
Measurements of Heavy Ion Pickup Near Pluto - E. J. Zirnstein et al

• Astrophysical Journal Letters 823(2):L30 (2016 June 01) DOI: 10.3847/2041-8205/823/2/L30

http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?p=257218#p257218

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Fireball After a Temporary Capture?
NOVA | American Astronomical Society | 2016 May 30

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This image of a fireball was captured in the Czech Republic by cameras at a digital autonomous observatory in the village of Kunžak. This observatory is part of a network of stations known as the European Fireball Network, and this particular meteoroid detection, labeled EN130114, is notable because it has the lowest initial velocity of any natural object ever observed by the network. Led by David Clark (University of Western Ontario), the authors of a recent study speculate that before this meteoroid impacted Earth, it may have been a Temporarily Captured Orbiter (TCO). TCOs are near-Earth objects that make a few orbits of Earth before returning to heliocentric orbits. Only one has ever been observed to date, and though they are thought to make up 0.1% of all meteoroids, EN130114 is the first event ever detected that exhibits conclusive behavior of a TCO. ...

Impact Detections of Temporarily Captured Natural Satellites - David L. Clark et al

• Astronomical Journal 151(6):135 (2016 June) DOI: 10.3847/0004-6256/151/6/135
  arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1602.03123 > 09 Feb 2016

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Testing Our Fundamental Assumptions
NOVA | American Astronomical Society | 2016 June 06

Science is all about testing the things we take for granted — including some of the most fundamental aspects of how we understand our universe. Is the speed of light in a vacuum the same for all photons regardless of their energy? Is the rest mass of a photon actually zero? A series of recent studies explore the possibility of using transient astrophysical sources for tests! ...

Focus on Exploring Fundamental Physics with Extragalactic Transients
Astrophysical Journal Letters

Cosmic Transients Test Einstein's Equivalence Principle out to GeV Energies - He Gao, Xue-Feng Wu, Peter Mészáros

• Astrophysical Journal 810(2):121 (2015 Sept 10) DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/810/2/121
  arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1509.00150 > 01 Sep 2015

Tests of the Einstein Equivalence Principle using TeV Blazars - Jun-Jie Wei, Jie-Shuang Wang, He Gao, Xue-Feng Wu

• Astrophysical Journal Letters 818(1):L2 (2016 Feb 10) DOI: 10.3847/2041-8205/818/1/L2
  arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1601.04145 > 16 Jan 2016

Murchison Widefield Array Limits on Radio Emission from ANTARES Neutrino Events - S. Croft et al

• Astrophysical Journal Letters 820(2):L24 (2016 Apr 01) DOI: 10.3847/2041-8205/820/2/L24
  arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1603.02271 > 07 Mar 2016

Limits on Einstein's Equivalence Principle from the first localized Fast Radio Burst FRB 150418 - Steven J Tingay, David L Kaplan

• Astrophysical Journal Letters 820(2):L31 (2016 Apr 01) DOI: 10.3847/2041-8205/820/2/L31
  arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1602.07643 > 24 Feb 2016 (v1), 10 Mar 2016 (v2)

On Testing the Equivalence Principle with Extragalactic Bursts - Adi Nusser

• Astrophysical Journal Letters 821(1):L2 (2016 Apr 10) DOI: 10.3847/2041-8205/821/1/L2
  arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1601.03636 > 14 Jan 2016 (v1), 18 Mar 2016 (v3)

Constraints on the Photon Mass with Fast Radio Bursts - Xue-Feng Wu et al

• Astrophysical Journal Letters 822(1):L15 (2016 May 01) DOI: 10.3847/2041-8205/822/1/L15
  arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1602.07835 > 25 Feb 2016 (v1), 11 Apr 2016 (v2)

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Cold Accretion from the Cosmic Web
NOVA | American Astronomical Society | 2016 June 08

The cosmic web is a vast, foam-like network of filaments and voids stretching throughout the universe. How did the first galaxies form within the cosmic web, at the intersections of filaments? New observations of a “protodisk” — a galaxy in the early stages of formation — may provide a clue. ...

A Newly Forming Cold Flow Protogalactic Disk, a Signature of Cold Accretion From the Cosmic Web - D. Christopher Martin et al

• Astrophysical Journal Letters 824(1):L5 (2016 June 10) DOI: 10.3847/2041-8205/824/1/L5

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Jets from Merging Neutron Stars
NOVA | American Astronomical Society | 2016 June 10

With the recent discovery of gravitational waves from the merger of two black holes, it’s especially important to understand the electromagnetic signals resulting from mergers of compact objects. New simulations successfully follow a merger of two neutron stars that produces a short burst of energy via a jet consistent with short gamma-ray burst (sGRB) detections. ...

Binary Neutron Star Mergers: a Jet Engine for Short Gamma-ray Bursts - Milton Ruiz et al

• Astrophysical Journal Letters 824(1):L6 (2016 June 10) DOI: 10.3847/2041-8205/824/1/L6

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Star Clusters in M51
NOVA | American Astronomical Society | 2016 June 20

[img3="Credit: NASA, ESA, S. Beckwith (STScI), Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)"]http://imgsrc.hubblesite.org/hu/db/imag ... lpaper.jpg[/img3][hr][/hr]

This beautiful mosaic of images of the Whirlpool galaxy (M51) and its companion was taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the Hubble Space Telescope. This nearby, “grand-design spiral” galaxy has a rich population of star clusters, making it both a stunning target for imagery and an excellent resource for learning about stellar formation and evolution. In a recent study, Rupali Chandar (University of Toledo) and collaborators cataloged over 3,800 compact star clusters within this galaxy. They then used this catalog to determine the distributions for the clusters’ ages, masses, and sizes, which can provide important clues as to how star clusters form, evolve, and are eventually disrupted. You can read more about their study and what they discovered in the paper below. ...

The Age, Mass, and Size Distributions of Star Clusters in M51 - Rupali Chandar et al

• Astrophysical Journal 824(2):71 (20 June 2016) DOI: 10.3847/0004-637X/824/2/71

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Mapping Near-Earth Hazards
NOVA | American Astronomical Society | 2016 June 22

How can we hunt down all the near-Earth asteroids that are capable of posing a threat to us? A new study looks at whether the upcoming Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) is up to the job. ...

Modeling the Performance of the LSST in Surveying the Near-Earth Object Population - Tommy Grav, Amy Mainzer, Tim Spahr

• Astronomical Journal 151(6):172 (2016 June) DOI: 10.3847/0004-6256/151/6/172
  arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1604.03444 > 12 Apr 2016

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An Update on Planet Nine
NOVA | American Astronomical Society | 2016 June 24

What’s the news coming from the research world on the search for Planet Nine? Read on for an update from a few of the latest studies. ...

Corralling a Distant Planet with Extreme Resonant Kuiper Belt Objects - Renu Malhotra, Kathryn Volk, Xianyu Wang

• Astrophysical Journal Letters 824(2):L22 (2016 June 20) DOI: 10.3847/2041-8205/824/2/L22
  arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1603.02196 > 07 Mar 2016 (v1), 02 Jun 2016 (v3)

Observational Constraints on the Orbit and Location of Planet Nine in the Outer Solar System - Michael E. Brown, Konstantin Batygin

• Astrophysical Journal Letters 824(2):L23 (2016 June 20) DOI: 10.3847/2041-8205/824/2/L23
  arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1603.05712 > 17 Mar 2016 (v1), 09 Jun 2016 (v2)

The Hunt for Planet Nine: Atmosphere, Spectra, Evolution, and Detectability - Jonathan J. Fortney et al

• Astrophysical Journal Letters 824(2):L25 (2016 June 20) DOI: 10.3847/2041-8205/824/2/L25
  arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1604.07424 > 25 Apr 2016 (v1), 06 Jun 2016 (v2)

http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?t=35573

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Producing Runaway Stars
NOVA | American Astronomical Society | 2016 June 27

How are the hypervelocity stars we’ve observed in our galaxy produced? A recent study suggests that these escapees could be accelerated by a massive black hole in the center of the Large Magellanic Cloud. ...

A Dipole on the Sky: Predictions for Hypervelocity Stars from the Large Magellanic Cloud - Douglas Boubert, N. W. Evans

• Astrophysical Journal Letters 825(1):L25 (2016 July 01) DOI: 10.3847/2041-8205/825/1/L6
  arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1606.02548 > 08 Jun 2016

[Ann]

Producing Runaway Stars
NOVA | American Astronomical Society | 2016 June 27

How are the hypervelocity stars we’ve observed in our galaxy produced? A recent study suggests that these escapees could be accelerated by a massive black hole in the center of the Large Magellanic Cloud. ...

A Dipole on the Sky: Predictions for Hypervelocity Stars from the Large Magellanic Cloud - Douglas Boubert, N. W. Evans

• Astrophysical Journal Letters 825(1):L25 (2016 July 01) DOI: 10.3847/2041-8205/825/1/L6
  arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1606.02548 > 08 Jun 2016

Interesting. I had not heard of any previous evidence of a massive black hole in the center of the Large Magellanic Cloud.

Ann

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IceCube’s Search for Neutrinos from Gamma-Ray Bursts
NOVA | American Astronomical Society | 2016 June 29

In a cubic kilometer of volume of ice under Antarctica, an observatory called IceCube is taking measurements that may help us to determine what causes the ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) we occasionally observe from Earth. A recent study reports on its latest results. ...

An All-Sky Search for Three Flavors of Neutrinos from Gamma-Ray Bursts with the IceCube Neutrino Observatory - IceCube Collaboration

• Astrophysical Journal 824(2):115 (20 June 2016) DOI: 10.3847/0004-637X/824/2/115
  arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1601.06484 > 25 Jan 2016

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Forming Spirals from Shadows
NOVA | American Astronomical Society | 2016 July 01

What causes the large-scale spiral structures found in some protoplanetary disks? Most models assume they’re created by newly-forming planets, but a new study suggests that planets might have nothing to do with it. ...

Spiral Waves Triggered by Shadows in Transition Disks - Matias Montesinos et al

• Astrophysical Journal Letters 823(1):L8 (2016 May 20) DOI: 10.3847/2041-8205/823/1/L8
  arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1601.07912 > 28 Jan 2016 (v1), 28 Apr 2016 (v2)

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Mapping Jupiter with Hubble
NOVA | American Astronomical Society | 2016 July 04

[c]
Credit: NASA, ESA, A. Simon (GSFC), M. Wong (UC Berkeley),
and G. Orton (JPL-Caltech)[/c][hr][/hr]

This global map of Jupiter’s surface (click for the full view!) was generated by the Hubble Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy (OPAL) program, which aims to create new yearly global maps for each of the outer planets. Presented in a study led by Amy Simon (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), the map above is the first generated for Jupiter in the first year of the OPAL campaign. It provides a detailed look at Jupiter’s atmospheric structure — including the Great Red Spot — and allowed the authors to measure the speed and direction of the wind across Jupiter’s latitudes, constructing an updated zonal wind profile for Jupiter. ...

First Results from the Hubble OPAL Program: Jupiter in 2015 - Amy A. Simon, Michael H. Wong, Glenn S. Orton

• Astrophysical Journal 812(1):55 (2015 Oct 10) DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/812/1/55

http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?t=35261

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A Different Way to Visualize Solar Changes
NOVA | American Astronomical Society | 2016 July 06

What if there were a better way to analyze a comet’s tail, the dimming of the Sun’s surface, or the path of material in a bright solar eruption? A recent study examines a new technique for looking at these evolving features. ...

Persistence Mapping Using EUV Solar Imager Data - B. J. Thompson, C. A. Young

• Astrophysical Journal 825(1):27 (01 July 2016) DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/825/1/27