I reminisce on my early life in Section 1;on my education in Sections 2 and 3;on the years at Princeton as a research astronomer in Section 4;on the years on the faculty at Chicago in Section 5;on research on Diffuse ...I reminisce on my early life in Section 1;on my education in Sections 2 and 3;on the years at Princeton as a research astronomer in Section 4;on the years on the faculty at Chicago in Section 5;on research on Diffuse Interstellar Bands(DIBs) in Section 6;on construction of the 3.5 m telescope at Apache Point Observatory(APO)in Section 7;on work on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey(SDSS) in Section 8;on work in public education in Chicago in Section 9;and on my travels in Section 10. My main science research is of an observational nature,concerning Galactic and intergalactic interstellar gas. Highlights for me included my work on the orbiting telescope Copernicus, including the discovery of interstellar deuterium;early observations of absorption associated with fivetimes ionized oxygen;and discoveries concerning the phases of gas in the local interstellar medium, based on previously unobservable interstellar UV spectral lines. With other instruments and collaborations, I extended interstellar UV studies to the intergalactic cool gas using quasi-stellar object QSO absorption lines redshifted to the optical part of the spectrum;provided a better definition of the emission and morphological character of the source of absorption lines in QSO spectra;and pursued the identification of the unidentified DIBs. For several of these topics, extensive collaborations with many scientists were essential over many years. The conclusions developed slowly, as I moved from being a graduate student at Chicago, to a research scientist position at Princeton and then to a faculty position at Chicago. At each stage of life, I was exposed to new technologies adaptable to my science and to subsequent projects. From high school days, I encountered several management opportunities which were formative. I have been extremely fortunate both in scientific mentors I had and in experimental opportunities I encountered.展开更多
Lunar Environment heliospheric X-ray Imager(LEXI)and Solar wind−Magnetosphere−Ionosphere Link Explorer(SMILE)will observe magnetosheath and its boundary motion in soft X-rays for understanding magnetopause reconnectio...Lunar Environment heliospheric X-ray Imager(LEXI)and Solar wind−Magnetosphere−Ionosphere Link Explorer(SMILE)will observe magnetosheath and its boundary motion in soft X-rays for understanding magnetopause reconnection modes under various solar wind conditions after their respective launches in 2024 and 2025.Magnetosheath conditions,namely,plasma density,velocity,and temperature,are key parameters for predicting and analyzing soft X-ray images from the LEXI and SMILE missions.We developed a userfriendly model of magnetosheath that parameterizes number density,velocity,temperature,and magnetic field by utilizing the global Magnetohydrodynamics(MHD)model as well as the pre-existing gas-dynamic and analytic models.Using this parameterized magnetosheath model,scientists can easily reconstruct expected soft X-ray images and utilize them for analysis of observed images of LEXI and SMILE without simulating the complicated global magnetosphere models.First,we created an MHD-based magnetosheath model by running a total of 14 OpenGGCM global MHD simulations under 7 solar wind densities(1,5,10,15,20,25,and 30 cm)and 2 interplanetary magnetic field Bz components(±4 nT),and then parameterizing the results in new magnetosheath conditions.We compared the magnetosheath model result with THEMIS statistical data and it showed good agreement with a weighted Pearson correlation coefficient greater than 0.77,especially for plasma density and plasma velocity.Second,we compiled a suite of magnetosheath models incorporating previous magnetosheath models(gas-dynamic,analytic),and did two case studies to test the performance.The MHD-based model was comparable to or better than the previous models while providing self-consistency among the magnetosheath parameters.Third,we constructed a tool to calculate a soft X-ray image from any given vantage point,which can support the planning and data analysis of the aforementioned LEXI and SMILE missions.A release of the code has been uploaded to a Github repository.展开更多
Can pulsar-like compact objects release further huge free energy besides the kinematic energy of rotation?This is actually relevant to the equation of state of cold supra-nuclear matter,which is still under hot debate...Can pulsar-like compact objects release further huge free energy besides the kinematic energy of rotation?This is actually relevant to the equation of state of cold supra-nuclear matter,which is still under hot debate.Enormous energy is surely needed to understand various observations,such asγ-ray bursts,fast radio bursts and softγ-ray repeaters.In this paper,the elastic/gravitational free energy of solid strangeon stars is revisited for strangeon stars,with two anisotropic models to calculate in general relativity.It is found that huge free energy(>10^(46)erg)could be released via starquakes,given an extremely small anisotropy((p_(t)-p_(r))/p_(r)~10^(-4),with pt/pr the tangential/radial pressure),implying that pulsar-like stars could have great potential of free energy release without extremely strong magnetic fields in the solid strangeon star model.展开更多
Using archival Fermi-LAT data with a time span of~12 yr,we study the population of Millisecond Pulsars(MSPs)in Globular Clusters(GlCs)and investigate their dependence on cluster dynamical evolution in the Milky Way.We...Using archival Fermi-LAT data with a time span of~12 yr,we study the population of Millisecond Pulsars(MSPs)in Globular Clusters(GlCs)and investigate their dependence on cluster dynamical evolution in the Milky Way.We show that theγ-ray luminosity(L_(γ))and emissivity(i.e.,ε_(γ)=L_(γ)/M,with M the cluster mass)are good indicators of the population and abundance of MSPs in GlCs,and they are highly dependent on the dynamical evolution history of the host clusters.Specifically speaking,the dynamically older GlCs with more compact structures are more likely to have larger L_(γ)andε_(γ),and these trends can be summarized as strong correlations with cluster stellar encounter rateΓand the specific encounter rate(Λ=Γ/M),with L_(γ)∝Γ^(0.7±0.11)andε_(γ)∝Λ^(0.73±0.13)for dynamically normal GlCs.However,as GlCs evolve into deep core collapse,these trends are found to be reversed,implying that strong encounters may have lead to the disruption of Low-Mass X-ray Binaries and ejection of MSPs from core-collapsed systems.Besides,the GlCs are found to exhibit largerε_(γ)with increasing stellar mass function slope(ε_(γ)∝10^((0.52±0.1)α)),decreasing tidal radius(ε_(γ)∝R_(t)^(-10±0.22))and distances from the Galactic Center(GC,ε_(γ)∝R_(gc)^(-1.13±0.21)).These correlations indicate that,as GlCs losing kinetic energy and spiral in toward the GC,tidal stripping and mass segregation have a preference in leading to the loss of normal stars from GlCs,while MSPs are more likely to concentrate to cluster center and be deposited into the GC.Moreover,we gaugeε_(γ)of GlCs is~10-1000 times larger than the Galactic bulge,the latter is thought to reside thousands of unresolved MSPs and may be responsible for the GC 7-ray excess,which supports that GlCs are generous contributors to the population of MSPs in the GC.展开更多
Seeing is an important index to evaluate the quality of an astronomical site.To estimate seeing at the Muztagh-Ata site with height and time quantitatively,the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts reanal...Seeing is an important index to evaluate the quality of an astronomical site.To estimate seeing at the Muztagh-Ata site with height and time quantitatively,the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts reanalysis database(ERA5)is used.Seeing calculated from ERA5 is compared consistently with the Differential Image Motion Monitor seeing at the height of 12 m.Results show that seeing decays exponentially with height at the Muztagh-Ata site.Seeing decays the fastest in fall in 2021 and most slowly with height in summer.The seeing condition is better in fall than in summer.The median value of seeing at 12 m is 0.89 arcsec,the maximum value is1.21 arcsec in August and the minimum is 0.66 arcsec in October.The median value of seeing at 12 m is 0.72arcsec in the nighttime and 1.08 arcsec in the daytime.Seeing is a combination of annual and about biannual variations with the same phase as temperature and wind speed indicating that seeing variation with time is influenced by temperature and wind speed.The Richardson number Ri is used to analyze the atmospheric stability and the variations of seeing are consistent with Ri between layers.These quantitative results can provide an important reference for a telescopic observation strategy.展开更多
The prompt emission mechanism of gamma-ray bursts(GRBs)is still unclear,and the time-resolved spectral analysis of GRBs is a powerful tool for studying their underlying physical processes.We performed a detailed time-...The prompt emission mechanism of gamma-ray bursts(GRBs)is still unclear,and the time-resolved spectral analysis of GRBs is a powerful tool for studying their underlying physical processes.We performed a detailed time-resolved spectral analysis of 78 bright long GRB samples detected by Fermi/Gamma-ray Burst Monitor.A total of 1490 spectra were obtained and their properties were studied using a typical Band-shape model.First,the parameter distributions of the time-resolved spectrum are given as follows:the low-energy spectral indexα~-0.72,high-energy spectral indexβ~2.42,the peak energy E_(p)~221.69 keV,and the energy flux F~7.49×10^(-6)erg cm^(-2)s^(-1).More than 80%of the bursts exhibit the hardest low-energy spectral indexα_(max),exceeding the synchrotron limit(-2/3).Second,the evolution patterns of a and E_(p)were statistically analyzed.The results show that for multi-pulse GRBs the intensity-tracking pattern is more common than the hard-to-soft pattern in the evolution of both E_(p)andα.The hard-to-soft pattern is generally shown in single-pulse GRBs or in the initial pulse of multi-pulse GRBs.Finally,we found a significant positive correlation between F and E_(p),with half of the samples exhibiting a positive correlation between F andα.We discussed the spectral evolution of different radiation models.The diversity of spectral evolution patterns indicates that there may be more than one radiation mechanism occurring in the GRB radiation process,including photo spheric radiation and synchrotron radiation.However,it may also involve only one radiation mechanism,but more complicated physical details need to be considered.展开更多
The star-forming clumps in star-bursting dwarf galaxies provide valuable insights into understanding the evolution of dwarf galaxies.In this paper,we focus on five star-bursting dwarf galaxies featuring off-centered c...The star-forming clumps in star-bursting dwarf galaxies provide valuable insights into understanding the evolution of dwarf galaxies.In this paper,we focus on five star-bursting dwarf galaxies featuring off-centered clumps in the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory survey.Using the stellar population synthesis software Fitting Analysis using Differential evolution Optimization,we obtain the spatially resolved distribution of the star formation history,which allows us to construct the g-band images of the five galaxies at different ages.These images can help us to probe the evolution of the morphological structures of these galaxies.While images of a stellar population older than 1 Gyr are typically smooth,images of a stellar population younger than 1 Gyr reveal significant clumps,including multiple clumps which appear at different locations and even different ages.To study the evolutionary connections of these five galaxies to other dwarf galaxies before their star-forming clumps appear,we construct the images of the stellar populations older than three age nodes,and define them to be the images of the"host"galaxies.We find that the properties such as the central surface brightness and the effective radii of the hosts of the five galaxies are in between those of dwarf ellipticals(dEs)and dwarf irregulars(dIrrs),with two clearly more similar to dEs and one more similar to dIrrs.Among the five galaxies,8257-3704 is particularly interesting,as it shows a previous starburst event that is not quite visible from its gri image,but only visible from images of the stellar population at a few hundred million years.The star-forming clump associated with this event may have appeared at around 600 Myr ago and disappeared at around 40 Myr ago.展开更多
We conduct a statistical analysis of the hardness ratio(HR)for bright sources in the 4 yr Galactic Plane Scanning Survey catalog of Insight-HXMT.Depending on the stable(variable)flux F_(s)(F_(v))or spectrum S_(s)(S_(v...We conduct a statistical analysis of the hardness ratio(HR)for bright sources in the 4 yr Galactic Plane Scanning Survey catalog of Insight-HXMT.Depending on the stable(variable)flux F_(s)(F_(v))or spectrum S_(s)(S_(v))of each source,the bright sources are classified into three groups:F_(v)&S_(v),F_(v)&S_(s),and F_(s)&_(s).Our study of the HR characteristics in different types of sources reveals that accretion-powered neutron star(NS)low-mass X-ray binaries(LMXBs)exhibit softer energy spectra than NS high-mass X-ray binaries(HMXBs),but harder energy spectra than black hole binaries in most cases.This difference is probably due to their different magnetic field strengths.Additionally,Fv&Sv LMXBs tend to be harder than Fv&Ss LMXBs below 7 keV,while the opposite is true for HMXBs.Our results suggest that LMXBs may dominate unclassified sources,and NS binaries are likely to be the primary type of X-ray binaries with ambiguous compact stars.By comparing the HR of transient sources in their outburst and low-flux states,it is found that the averaged HR of four sources in the two states are roughly comparable within uncertainties.We also investigate the spatial properties of the three groups and find that Fv&Sv sources are mainly located in the longitude of-20°<l<9°,Fv&Ss sources cross the Galactic Plane,and Fs&Ss sources are predominantly concentrated in 19°<l<42°.In addition,analyzing the HR spatial distributions shows the absorption of soft X-rays(primarily below 2 keV)in the Galactic Plane.展开更多
Fast radio bursts(FRBs)are short pulses observed in radio frequencies usually originating from cosmological distances.The discovery of FRB 200428 and its X-ray counterpart from the Galactic magnetar SGR J1935+2154sugg...Fast radio bursts(FRBs)are short pulses observed in radio frequencies usually originating from cosmological distances.The discovery of FRB 200428 and its X-ray counterpart from the Galactic magnetar SGR J1935+2154suggests that at least some FRBs can be generated by magnetars.However,the majority of X-ray bursts from magnetars are not associated with radio emission.The fact that only in rare cases can an FRB be generated raises the question regarding the special triggering mechanism of FRBs.Here we report long time spin evolution of SGR J1935+2154 until the end of 2022.According to v and v,the spin evolution of SGR J1935+2154 could be divided into two stages.The first stage evolves relatively steady evolution until 2020 April 27.After the burst activity in2020,the spin of SGR J1935+2154 shows strong variations,especially for v.After the burst activity in 2022October,a new spin-down glitch with△v/v=(-7.2±0.6)×10^(-6)is detected around MJD 59876,which is the second event in SGR J1935+2154.At the end,spin frequency and pulse profile do not show variations around the time of FRB 200428 and radio bursts 221014 and 221021,which supply strong clues to constrain the trigger mechanism of FRBs or radio bursts.展开更多
We developed a monochromatic crystal backlight imaging system for the double-cone ignition(DCI) scheme, employing a spherically bent quartz crystal. This system was used to measure the spatial distribution and tempora...We developed a monochromatic crystal backlight imaging system for the double-cone ignition(DCI) scheme, employing a spherically bent quartz crystal. This system was used to measure the spatial distribution and temporal evolution of the head-on colliding plasma from the two compressing cones in the DCI experiments. The influence of laser parameters on the x-ray backlighter intensity and spatial resolution of the imaging system was investigated. The imaging system had a spatial resolution of 10 μm when employing a CCD detector. Experiments demonstrated that the system can obtain time-resolved radiographic images with high quality, enabling the precise measurement of the shape, size, and density distribution of the plasma.展开更多
“Plasmas” up to a kilometer in size and behaving similarly to multicellular organisms have been filmed on 10 separate NASA space shuttle missions, over 200 miles above Earth within the thermosphere. These self-illum...“Plasmas” up to a kilometer in size and behaving similarly to multicellular organisms have been filmed on 10 separate NASA space shuttle missions, over 200 miles above Earth within the thermosphere. These self-illuminated “plasmas” are attracted to and may “feed on” electromagnetic radiation. They have different morphologies: 1) cone, 2) cloud, 3) donut, 4) spherical-cylindrical;and have been filmed flying towards and descending from the thermosphere into thunderstorms;congregating by the hundreds and interacting with satellites generating electromagnetic activity;approaching the Space Shuttles. Computerized analysis of flight path trajectories documents these plasmas travel at different velocities from different directions and change their angle of trajectory making 45°, 90°, and 180° shifts and follow each other. They’ve been filmed accelerating, slowing down, stopping, congregating, engaging in “hunter-predatory” behavior and intersecting plasmas leaving a plasma dust trail in their wake. Similar life-like behaviors have been demonstrated by plasmas created experimentally. “Plasmas” may have been photographed in the 1940s by WWII pilots (identified as “Foo fighters”);repeatedly observed and filmed by astronauts and military pilots and classified as Unidentified Aerial—Anomalous Phenomenon. Plasmas are not biological but may represent a form of pre-life that via the incorporation of elements common in space, could result in the synthesis of RNA. Plasmas constitute a fourth state of matter, are attracted to electromagnetic activity, and when observed in the lower atmosphere likely account for many of the UFO-UAP sightings over the centuries.展开更多
The first photometric,spectroscopic and period variation studies of neglected short-period eclipsing binary V2840Cygni are presented.High mass ratio contact binaries(HMRCBs),especially those in the weak-contact config...The first photometric,spectroscopic and period variation studies of neglected short-period eclipsing binary V2840Cygni are presented.High mass ratio contact binaries(HMRCBs),especially those in the weak-contact configuration,are vital when probing the evolutionary models of contact binaries(CBs) using stellar parameters.The photometric solutions reveal the weak-contact nature of V2840 Cygni with a high mass ratio(~1.36),motivating us to investigate the nature of such binaries.The period variation study of V2840 Cygni spanning 15 yr shows a secular period decrease at a rate of ~5.5 × 10^(-7) day yr^(-1),indicating mass transfer between the components.The superimposed cyclic variation provides a basic understanding of the possible third body(P_(3)- 8 yr,m_(3)- 0.51 M_(⊙)).Following the derived parameters,the evolution of the system is discussed based on the thermal relaxation oscillation(TRO) model.It is found that V2840 Cygni falls in a special category of HMRCBs,which validates TRO.To characterize the nature of HMRCBs,a catalog of 59 CBs with high mass ratios has been compiled along with their derived parameters from the literature.For all the HMRCBs in the study,a possible correlation between their contact configuration and observed period variations for relative log J_(rel) is discussed.The spectroscopic study of V2840 Cygni provides evidence of the presence of magnetic activity in the system and the existence of ongoing mass transfer which is additionally deduced from the period variation study.The LAMOST spectra of 17 HMRCBs are collected to interpret the stellar magnetic activity in such systems.展开更多
Expected to be of the highest survey power telescope in the northern hemisphere,the Wide Field Survey Telescope(WFST)will begin its routine observations of the northern sky since 2023.WFST will produce a lot of scient...Expected to be of the highest survey power telescope in the northern hemisphere,the Wide Field Survey Telescope(WFST)will begin its routine observations of the northern sky since 2023.WFST will produce a lot of scientific data to support the researches of time-domain astronomy,asteroids and the solar system,galaxy formation and cosmology and so on.We estimated that the 5σlimiting magnitudes of WFST with 30 s exposure are u=22.31mag,g=23.42 mag,r=22.95 mag,i=22.43 mag,z=21.50 mag,w=23.61 mag.The above values are calculated for the conditions of airmass=1.2,seeing=075,precipitable water vapor=2.5 mm and Moon-object separation=45°at the darkest New Moon night of the Lenghu site(V=22.30 mag,Moon phaseθ=0°).The limiting magnitudes in different Moon phase conditions are also calculated.The calculations are based on the empirical transmittance data of WFST optics,the vendor provided CCD quantum efficiency,the atmospherical model transmittance and spectrum of the site.In the absence of measurement data such as sky transmittance and spectrum,we use model data.展开更多
Large scale spectroscopic surveys such as that using Large-sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope(LAMOST) have collected spectra of millions stars in the Milky Way.Utilizing this huge sample of stars to s...Large scale spectroscopic surveys such as that using Large-sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope(LAMOST) have collected spectra of millions stars in the Milky Way.Utilizing this huge sample of stars to study the assembling history and structure of our Galaxy requires accurate estimates of distance,extinction,age,and mass for individual stars.Combining the parallax constraint from Gaia EDR3 with Bayesian inference,we have estimated the distance and extinction for stars observed in LAMOST DR7,as well as the stellar mass and age for evolved stars in this data release.We validated the accuracies of the stellar parameters by comparing our results against various measurements,including the star-pair technique,asteroseismology,globular clusters,and isochrone fits to main sequence stars and subgiants.This is a valuable catalog of stellar parameters under a Bayesian framework estimated using the data from Gaia EDR3 and LAMOST spectroscopic data.With this data set we explored the stellar population of the Galactic massive substructure Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus(GSE).The kinematically selected members of GSE have a median metallicity of [Fe/H] =-1.29 and a median age of 11.6 Gyr.展开更多
We present an analysis of 288 young stellar objects(YSOs)in the Perseus molecular cloud that have well defined g and r-band lightcurves from the Zwicky Transient Facility.Of the 288 YSOs,238 sources(83%of our working ...We present an analysis of 288 young stellar objects(YSOs)in the Perseus molecular cloud that have well defined g and r-band lightcurves from the Zwicky Transient Facility.Of the 288 YSOs,238 sources(83%of our working sample)are identified as variables based on the normalized peak-to-peak variability metric,with variability fraction of 92%for stars with disks and 77%for the diskless populations.These variables are classified into different categories using the quasiperiodicity(Q)and flux asymmetry(M)metrics.Fifty-three variables are classified as strictly periodic objects that are well phased and can be attributed to spot modulated stellar rotation.We also identify 22 bursters and 25 dippers,which can be attributed to accretion burst and variable extinction,respectively.YSOs with disks tend to have asymmetric and non-repeatable lightcurves,while the YSOs without disks tend to have(quasi)periodic lightcurves.The periodic variables have the steepest change in g versus g-r,while bursters have much flatter changes than dippers in g versus g-r.Periodic and quasiperiodic variables display the lowest variability amplitude.Simple models suggest that the variability amplitudes of periodic variables correspond to changes of the spot coverage of 30%-40%,burster variables are attributed to accretion luminosity changes in the range of L_(acc)/L_(*)=0.1-0.3,and dippers are due to variable extinction with A_(V)changes in the range of 0.5-1.3 mag.展开更多
We address the physical and kinematical properties of Wolf–Rayet[WR]central stars(CSs)and their host planetary nebulae(PNe).The studied sample comprises all[WR]CSs that are currently known.The analysis is based on re...We address the physical and kinematical properties of Wolf–Rayet[WR]central stars(CSs)and their host planetary nebulae(PNe).The studied sample comprises all[WR]CSs that are currently known.The analysis is based on recent observations of the parallax,proper motion,and color index of[WR]CSs from the Gaia space mission’s early third release(eDR3)catalog,as well as common nebular characteristics.The results revealed an evolutionary sequence,in terms of decreasing Teff,from the early hot[WO 1]to the late cold[WC 12]stars.This evolutionary sequence extends beyond[WR]CS temperature and luminosity to additional CS and nebular characteristics.The statistical analysis shows that the mean final stellar mass and evolutionary age of the[WR]CS sample are 0.595±0.13M⊙and 9449±2437 yr,respectively,with a mean nebular dynamical age of 7270±1380 yr.In addition,we recognize that the color of the majority(∼85%)of[WR]CSs tends to be red rather than their genuine blue color.The analysis indicates that two-thirds of the apparent red color of most[WR]s is attributed to the interstellar extinction whereas the other one-third is due to the PN self-extinction effect.展开更多
Detached and wide-orbit black hole-star binaries(BHSBs)can generate three types of periodic photometric signals:Ellipsoidal Variation,Doppler beaming and Self-Lensing(SL),providing a proxy to discover these black hole...Detached and wide-orbit black hole-star binaries(BHSBs)can generate three types of periodic photometric signals:Ellipsoidal Variation,Doppler beaming and Self-Lensing(SL),providing a proxy to discover these black holes.We estimate the relative amplitude of the three signals for such systems and the detectability for black holes of a photometric telescope like Kepler in several steps.We estimate the searchable star number by assuming every star has a black hole companion,and apply the occurrence of BHSBs in field stars to estimate the detectable black hole signals.We consider three types of Initial Mass Function(IMF)model with different high end exponential slopes.“When spot and white noise are both considered,there is about one detectable signal for SL and less than one event is expected for beaming and Ellipsoidal Variation signal in Kepler Input Catalog stars with the standard IMF model.”to“Due to contamination by stellar spots and white noise,one may expect one detectable signal for SL and less than one detectable signal for both beaming and Ellipsoidal Variation in Kepler Input Catalog stars with the standard IMF model.”On the other hand,if we assume that only white noise affects the detection efficiency of the BHSBs,we expect about 10 Ellipsoidal Variation signals and 17 beaming signals to be detectable while the number of SL signals remains unchanged.展开更多
The analysis of light variation of M87 can help us understand the disk evolution.In the past decade,M87 has experienced several short-term light variabilities related to flares.We also find that there are year-scale X...The analysis of light variation of M87 can help us understand the disk evolution.In the past decade,M87 has experienced several short-term light variabilities related to flares.We also find that there are year-scale X-ray variations in the core of M87.Their light variability properties are similar to clumpy-ADAF.By re-analyzing 56Chandra observations from 2007 to 2019,we distinguish the“non-flaring state”from“flaring state”in the light variability.After removing flaring state data,we identify four gas clumps in the nucleus and all of them can be well fitted by the clumpy-ADAF model.The average mass accretion rate is~0.16M⊙yr^(-1).We analyze the photon index(Γ)-flux(2-10 keV)correlation between the non-flaring state and flaring state.For the non-flaring states,the flux is inversely proportional to the photon index.For the flaring states,we find no obvious correlation between the two parameters.In addition,we find that the flare always occurs at a high mass accretion rate,and after the luminosity of the flare reaches the peak,it will be accompanied by a sudden decrease in luminosity.Our results can be explained as that the energy released by magnetic reconnection destroys the structure of the accretion disk,thus the luminosity decreases rapidly and returns to normal levels thereafter.展开更多
We present the timing and spectral studies of the Be/X-ray binary XTE J1946+274 during its 2018 and 2021 giant outbursts using observations with the SXT and LAXPC instruments on the AstroSat satellite.Unlike the 1998 ...We present the timing and spectral studies of the Be/X-ray binary XTE J1946+274 during its 2018 and 2021 giant outbursts using observations with the SXT and LAXPC instruments on the AstroSat satellite.Unlike the 1998 and 2010 outbursts,where a giant outburst was followed by several low intensity periodic outbursts,the 2018 and 2021 outbursts were single outbursts.The X-ray pulsations are detected over a broad energy band covering 0.5–80 keV from the compact object.We construct the spin evolution history of the pulsar over two decades and find that the pulsar spins-up during the outbursts but switches to spin-down state in the quiescent periods between the outbursts.Energy resolved pulse profiles generated in several bands in 0.5–80 keV show that the pulse shape varies with the energy.The energy spectrum of the pulsar is determined for the 2018 and 2021 outbursts.The best fit spectral models require presence of cyclotron resonant scattering feature at about 43 keV in the energy spectra of both the outbursts.We find indication of possible reversal in the correlation between the cyclotron line energy and luminosity which needs to be ascertained from future observations.Using the best fit spectra the X-ray luminosity of XTE J1946+274 is inferred to be 2.7×10^(37) erg s^(-1) for the 2018 observations and 2.3×10^(37) erg s^(-1) for the 2021 observations.We discuss possible mechanisms which can drive outbursts in this transient Be X-ray binary.展开更多
Marginal short-period contact binaries are important to understand as they pose a different physical scenario than the predicted theoretical model based on the thermal relaxation oscillation mechanism due to their sha...Marginal short-period contact binaries are important to understand as they pose a different physical scenario than the predicted theoretical model based on the thermal relaxation oscillation mechanism due to their shallow degree of contact.Here we present the optical and X-ray studies of a contact binary source RW Dor using the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite(TESS)and XMM-Newton telescopes.For the first time we report the varying O'Connell effect and explain the asymmetry with a spot model.Based on the new times of minima,we make a robust estimate of the orbital period of the third body at 47.01~0.52 yr with an eccentricity e=0.21.We show that the period-decreasing trend observed in O-C variation can be explained by both conservative mass transfer from primary to secondary and AML via stellar wind.The X-ray luminosity exhibited by RW Dor did not vary significantly on three different occasions and was found to be about 3.34×10~(29)erg s~(-1).Assuming that the quiescent X-ray emission is emitted from an undisturbed loop structure,the loop size is estimated to be 0.6-1×10~(10)cm which is≤Alfvén radius r_A~8×10~(10)cm.展开更多
文摘I reminisce on my early life in Section 1;on my education in Sections 2 and 3;on the years at Princeton as a research astronomer in Section 4;on the years on the faculty at Chicago in Section 5;on research on Diffuse Interstellar Bands(DIBs) in Section 6;on construction of the 3.5 m telescope at Apache Point Observatory(APO)in Section 7;on work on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey(SDSS) in Section 8;on work in public education in Chicago in Section 9;and on my travels in Section 10. My main science research is of an observational nature,concerning Galactic and intergalactic interstellar gas. Highlights for me included my work on the orbiting telescope Copernicus, including the discovery of interstellar deuterium;early observations of absorption associated with fivetimes ionized oxygen;and discoveries concerning the phases of gas in the local interstellar medium, based on previously unobservable interstellar UV spectral lines. With other instruments and collaborations, I extended interstellar UV studies to the intergalactic cool gas using quasi-stellar object QSO absorption lines redshifted to the optical part of the spectrum;provided a better definition of the emission and morphological character of the source of absorption lines in QSO spectra;and pursued the identification of the unidentified DIBs. For several of these topics, extensive collaborations with many scientists were essential over many years. The conclusions developed slowly, as I moved from being a graduate student at Chicago, to a research scientist position at Princeton and then to a faculty position at Chicago. At each stage of life, I was exposed to new technologies adaptable to my science and to subsequent projects. From high school days, I encountered several management opportunities which were formative. I have been extremely fortunate both in scientific mentors I had and in experimental opportunities I encountered.
基金supported by the NSF grant AGS-1928883the NASA grants,80NSSC20K1670 and 80MSFC20C0019+2 种基金support from NASA GSFC IRADHIFISFM funds。
文摘Lunar Environment heliospheric X-ray Imager(LEXI)and Solar wind−Magnetosphere−Ionosphere Link Explorer(SMILE)will observe magnetosheath and its boundary motion in soft X-rays for understanding magnetopause reconnection modes under various solar wind conditions after their respective launches in 2024 and 2025.Magnetosheath conditions,namely,plasma density,velocity,and temperature,are key parameters for predicting and analyzing soft X-ray images from the LEXI and SMILE missions.We developed a userfriendly model of magnetosheath that parameterizes number density,velocity,temperature,and magnetic field by utilizing the global Magnetohydrodynamics(MHD)model as well as the pre-existing gas-dynamic and analytic models.Using this parameterized magnetosheath model,scientists can easily reconstruct expected soft X-ray images and utilize them for analysis of observed images of LEXI and SMILE without simulating the complicated global magnetosphere models.First,we created an MHD-based magnetosheath model by running a total of 14 OpenGGCM global MHD simulations under 7 solar wind densities(1,5,10,15,20,25,and 30 cm)and 2 interplanetary magnetic field Bz components(±4 nT),and then parameterizing the results in new magnetosheath conditions.We compared the magnetosheath model result with THEMIS statistical data and it showed good agreement with a weighted Pearson correlation coefficient greater than 0.77,especially for plasma density and plasma velocity.Second,we compiled a suite of magnetosheath models incorporating previous magnetosheath models(gas-dynamic,analytic),and did two case studies to test the performance.The MHD-based model was comparable to or better than the previous models while providing self-consistency among the magnetosheath parameters.Third,we constructed a tool to calculate a soft X-ray image from any given vantage point,which can support the planning and data analysis of the aforementioned LEXI and SMILE missions.A release of the code has been uploaded to a Github repository.
基金supported by the National SKA Program of China(2020SKA0120100)supported by NSFC grant No.12203017。
文摘Can pulsar-like compact objects release further huge free energy besides the kinematic energy of rotation?This is actually relevant to the equation of state of cold supra-nuclear matter,which is still under hot debate.Enormous energy is surely needed to understand various observations,such asγ-ray bursts,fast radio bursts and softγ-ray repeaters.In this paper,the elastic/gravitational free energy of solid strangeon stars is revisited for strangeon stars,with two anisotropic models to calculate in general relativity.It is found that huge free energy(>10^(46)erg)could be released via starquakes,given an extremely small anisotropy((p_(t)-p_(r))/p_(r)~10^(-4),with pt/pr the tangential/radial pressure),implying that pulsar-like stars could have great potential of free energy release without extremely strong magnetic fields in the solid strangeon star model.
基金supported by the Youth Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China No.12003017。
文摘Using archival Fermi-LAT data with a time span of~12 yr,we study the population of Millisecond Pulsars(MSPs)in Globular Clusters(GlCs)and investigate their dependence on cluster dynamical evolution in the Milky Way.We show that theγ-ray luminosity(L_(γ))and emissivity(i.e.,ε_(γ)=L_(γ)/M,with M the cluster mass)are good indicators of the population and abundance of MSPs in GlCs,and they are highly dependent on the dynamical evolution history of the host clusters.Specifically speaking,the dynamically older GlCs with more compact structures are more likely to have larger L_(γ)andε_(γ),and these trends can be summarized as strong correlations with cluster stellar encounter rateΓand the specific encounter rate(Λ=Γ/M),with L_(γ)∝Γ^(0.7±0.11)andε_(γ)∝Λ^(0.73±0.13)for dynamically normal GlCs.However,as GlCs evolve into deep core collapse,these trends are found to be reversed,implying that strong encounters may have lead to the disruption of Low-Mass X-ray Binaries and ejection of MSPs from core-collapsed systems.Besides,the GlCs are found to exhibit largerε_(γ)with increasing stellar mass function slope(ε_(γ)∝10^((0.52±0.1)α)),decreasing tidal radius(ε_(γ)∝R_(t)^(-10±0.22))and distances from the Galactic Center(GC,ε_(γ)∝R_(gc)^(-1.13±0.21)).These correlations indicate that,as GlCs losing kinetic energy and spiral in toward the GC,tidal stripping and mass segregation have a preference in leading to the loss of normal stars from GlCs,while MSPs are more likely to concentrate to cluster center and be deposited into the GC.Moreover,we gaugeε_(γ)of GlCs is~10-1000 times larger than the Galactic bulge,the latter is thought to reside thousands of unresolved MSPs and may be responsible for the GC 7-ray excess,which supports that GlCs are generous contributors to the population of MSPs in the GC.
基金funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC)the Chinese Academy of Sciences(CAS)(grant No.U2031209)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC,grant Nos.11872128,42174192,and 91952111)。
文摘Seeing is an important index to evaluate the quality of an astronomical site.To estimate seeing at the Muztagh-Ata site with height and time quantitatively,the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts reanalysis database(ERA5)is used.Seeing calculated from ERA5 is compared consistently with the Differential Image Motion Monitor seeing at the height of 12 m.Results show that seeing decays exponentially with height at the Muztagh-Ata site.Seeing decays the fastest in fall in 2021 and most slowly with height in summer.The seeing condition is better in fall than in summer.The median value of seeing at 12 m is 0.89 arcsec,the maximum value is1.21 arcsec in August and the minimum is 0.66 arcsec in October.The median value of seeing at 12 m is 0.72arcsec in the nighttime and 1.08 arcsec in the daytime.Seeing is a combination of annual and about biannual variations with the same phase as temperature and wind speed indicating that seeing variation with time is influenced by temperature and wind speed.The Richardson number Ri is used to analyze the atmospheric stability and the variations of seeing are consistent with Ri between layers.These quantitative results can provide an important reference for a telescopic observation strategy.
基金performed under the auspices of the Science and Technology Foundation of Guizhou Province(grant No.Qian Ke He Ji Chu ZK[2021]027)Major Science and Technology Program of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region through No.2022A03013-1+1 种基金the National Key Research and Development Program of China(No.2022YFC2205202)the National Natural Science Foundation of China grants 12288102,12041304 and 11847102。
文摘The prompt emission mechanism of gamma-ray bursts(GRBs)is still unclear,and the time-resolved spectral analysis of GRBs is a powerful tool for studying their underlying physical processes.We performed a detailed time-resolved spectral analysis of 78 bright long GRB samples detected by Fermi/Gamma-ray Burst Monitor.A total of 1490 spectra were obtained and their properties were studied using a typical Band-shape model.First,the parameter distributions of the time-resolved spectrum are given as follows:the low-energy spectral indexα~-0.72,high-energy spectral indexβ~2.42,the peak energy E_(p)~221.69 keV,and the energy flux F~7.49×10^(-6)erg cm^(-2)s^(-1).More than 80%of the bursts exhibit the hardest low-energy spectral indexα_(max),exceeding the synchrotron limit(-2/3).Second,the evolution patterns of a and E_(p)were statistically analyzed.The results show that for multi-pulse GRBs the intensity-tracking pattern is more common than the hard-to-soft pattern in the evolution of both E_(p)andα.The hard-to-soft pattern is generally shown in single-pulse GRBs or in the initial pulse of multi-pulse GRBs.Finally,we found a significant positive correlation between F and E_(p),with half of the samples exhibiting a positive correlation between F andα.We discussed the spectral evolution of different radiation models.The diversity of spectral evolution patterns indicates that there may be more than one radiation mechanism occurring in the GRB radiation process,including photo spheric radiation and synchrotron radiation.However,it may also involve only one radiation mechanism,but more complicated physical details need to be considered.
基金supported by National Key R&D Program of China(Nos.2019YFA0405501 and 2022YFF0503402)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC,Nos.12233005 and 12041302)+6 种基金support from the Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai(Project Number:22ZR1473000)the Program of Shanghai Academic Research Leader(No.22XD1404200)supports from the CAS Pioneer Hundred Talents ProgramUSTC Research Funds of the Double First-Class Initiativethe NSFC grant 12273037the NSFC grants 12033004,12333003support from the NSFC through grants 12273091 and U2031139。
文摘The star-forming clumps in star-bursting dwarf galaxies provide valuable insights into understanding the evolution of dwarf galaxies.In this paper,we focus on five star-bursting dwarf galaxies featuring off-centered clumps in the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory survey.Using the stellar population synthesis software Fitting Analysis using Differential evolution Optimization,we obtain the spatially resolved distribution of the star formation history,which allows us to construct the g-band images of the five galaxies at different ages.These images can help us to probe the evolution of the morphological structures of these galaxies.While images of a stellar population older than 1 Gyr are typically smooth,images of a stellar population younger than 1 Gyr reveal significant clumps,including multiple clumps which appear at different locations and even different ages.To study the evolutionary connections of these five galaxies to other dwarf galaxies before their star-forming clumps appear,we construct the images of the stellar populations older than three age nodes,and define them to be the images of the"host"galaxies.We find that the properties such as the central surface brightness and the effective radii of the hosts of the five galaxies are in between those of dwarf ellipticals(dEs)and dwarf irregulars(dIrrs),with two clearly more similar to dEs and one more similar to dIrrs.Among the five galaxies,8257-3704 is particularly interesting,as it shows a previous starburst event that is not quite visible from its gri image,but only visible from images of the stellar population at a few hundred million years.The star-forming clump associated with this event may have appeared at around 600 Myr ago and disappeared at around 40 Myr ago.
基金the support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China under grant Nos.12333007,U1838202,U1838201,U1838107,U1838113,U1838113 and U2038102the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the CAS(grant id 2018014)+1 种基金the National Key R&D Program of China(grant No.2021YFA0718500)partially supported by the International Partnership Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(grant No.113111KYSB20190020)。
文摘We conduct a statistical analysis of the hardness ratio(HR)for bright sources in the 4 yr Galactic Plane Scanning Survey catalog of Insight-HXMT.Depending on the stable(variable)flux F_(s)(F_(v))or spectrum S_(s)(S_(v))of each source,the bright sources are classified into three groups:F_(v)&S_(v),F_(v)&S_(s),and F_(s)&_(s).Our study of the HR characteristics in different types of sources reveals that accretion-powered neutron star(NS)low-mass X-ray binaries(LMXBs)exhibit softer energy spectra than NS high-mass X-ray binaries(HMXBs),but harder energy spectra than black hole binaries in most cases.This difference is probably due to their different magnetic field strengths.Additionally,Fv&Sv LMXBs tend to be harder than Fv&Ss LMXBs below 7 keV,while the opposite is true for HMXBs.Our results suggest that LMXBs may dominate unclassified sources,and NS binaries are likely to be the primary type of X-ray binaries with ambiguous compact stars.By comparing the HR of transient sources in their outburst and low-flux states,it is found that the averaged HR of four sources in the two states are roughly comparable within uncertainties.We also investigate the spatial properties of the three groups and find that Fv&Sv sources are mainly located in the longitude of-20°<l<9°,Fv&Ss sources cross the Galactic Plane,and Fs&Ss sources are predominantly concentrated in 19°<l<42°.In addition,analyzing the HR spatial distributions shows the absorption of soft X-rays(primarily below 2 keV)in the Galactic Plane.
基金supported by the National Key R&D Program of China(2021YFA0718500)from the Minister of Science and Technology of China(MOST)supports from the National Natural Science Foundation of China under grants 12173103,12003028,U2038101,U2038102 and 11733009+2 种基金supported by International Partnership Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences(grant No.113111KYSB20190020)the National SKA Program of China(2022SKA0130100)the China Manned Spaced Project(CMS-CSST-2021-B11)。
文摘Fast radio bursts(FRBs)are short pulses observed in radio frequencies usually originating from cosmological distances.The discovery of FRB 200428 and its X-ray counterpart from the Galactic magnetar SGR J1935+2154suggests that at least some FRBs can be generated by magnetars.However,the majority of X-ray bursts from magnetars are not associated with radio emission.The fact that only in rare cases can an FRB be generated raises the question regarding the special triggering mechanism of FRBs.Here we report long time spin evolution of SGR J1935+2154 until the end of 2022.According to v and v,the spin evolution of SGR J1935+2154 could be divided into two stages.The first stage evolves relatively steady evolution until 2020 April 27.After the burst activity in2020,the spin of SGR J1935+2154 shows strong variations,especially for v.After the burst activity in 2022October,a new spin-down glitch with△v/v=(-7.2±0.6)×10^(-6)is detected around MJD 59876,which is the second event in SGR J1935+2154.At the end,spin frequency and pulse profile do not show variations around the time of FRB 200428 and radio bursts 221014 and 221021,which supply strong clues to constrain the trigger mechanism of FRBs or radio bursts.
基金Project supported by the staff of the Shenguang-Ⅱ upgrade Laser facilityThis study was supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(Grant Nos.XDA25010100,XDA25010300,XDA25030100,XDA25030200,and XDA25051000)+2 种基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.11827807 and 12105359)the Open Foundation of Key Laboratory of High Power Laser and Physics of Chinese Academy of Sciences(Grant No.SGKF202105)the Chinese Academy of Sciences Youth Interdisciplinary Team(Grant No.JCTD-2022-05).
文摘We developed a monochromatic crystal backlight imaging system for the double-cone ignition(DCI) scheme, employing a spherically bent quartz crystal. This system was used to measure the spatial distribution and temporal evolution of the head-on colliding plasma from the two compressing cones in the DCI experiments. The influence of laser parameters on the x-ray backlighter intensity and spatial resolution of the imaging system was investigated. The imaging system had a spatial resolution of 10 μm when employing a CCD detector. Experiments demonstrated that the system can obtain time-resolved radiographic images with high quality, enabling the precise measurement of the shape, size, and density distribution of the plasma.
文摘“Plasmas” up to a kilometer in size and behaving similarly to multicellular organisms have been filmed on 10 separate NASA space shuttle missions, over 200 miles above Earth within the thermosphere. These self-illuminated “plasmas” are attracted to and may “feed on” electromagnetic radiation. They have different morphologies: 1) cone, 2) cloud, 3) donut, 4) spherical-cylindrical;and have been filmed flying towards and descending from the thermosphere into thunderstorms;congregating by the hundreds and interacting with satellites generating electromagnetic activity;approaching the Space Shuttles. Computerized analysis of flight path trajectories documents these plasmas travel at different velocities from different directions and change their angle of trajectory making 45°, 90°, and 180° shifts and follow each other. They’ve been filmed accelerating, slowing down, stopping, congregating, engaging in “hunter-predatory” behavior and intersecting plasmas leaving a plasma dust trail in their wake. Similar life-like behaviors have been demonstrated by plasmas created experimentally. “Plasmas” may have been photographed in the 1940s by WWII pilots (identified as “Foo fighters”);repeatedly observed and filmed by astronauts and military pilots and classified as Unidentified Aerial—Anomalous Phenomenon. Plasmas are not biological but may represent a form of pre-life that via the incorporation of elements common in space, could result in the synthesis of RNA. Plasmas constitute a fourth state of matter, are attracted to electromagnetic activity, and when observed in the lower atmosphere likely account for many of the UFO-UAP sightings over the centuries.
基金Funding for the project has been provided by the National Development and Reform Commission。
文摘The first photometric,spectroscopic and period variation studies of neglected short-period eclipsing binary V2840Cygni are presented.High mass ratio contact binaries(HMRCBs),especially those in the weak-contact configuration,are vital when probing the evolutionary models of contact binaries(CBs) using stellar parameters.The photometric solutions reveal the weak-contact nature of V2840 Cygni with a high mass ratio(~1.36),motivating us to investigate the nature of such binaries.The period variation study of V2840 Cygni spanning 15 yr shows a secular period decrease at a rate of ~5.5 × 10^(-7) day yr^(-1),indicating mass transfer between the components.The superimposed cyclic variation provides a basic understanding of the possible third body(P_(3)- 8 yr,m_(3)- 0.51 M_(⊙)).Following the derived parameters,the evolution of the system is discussed based on the thermal relaxation oscillation(TRO) model.It is found that V2840 Cygni falls in a special category of HMRCBs,which validates TRO.To characterize the nature of HMRCBs,a catalog of 59 CBs with high mass ratios has been compiled along with their derived parameters from the literature.For all the HMRCBs in the study,a possible correlation between their contact configuration and observed period variations for relative log J_(rel) is discussed.The spectroscopic study of V2840 Cygni provides evidence of the presence of magnetic activity in the system and the existence of ongoing mass transfer which is additionally deduced from the period variation study.The LAMOST spectra of 17 HMRCBs are collected to interpret the stellar magnetic activity in such systems.
基金supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences(grant Nos.XDB 41000000 and XDB 41010105)the National Science Foundation of China(NSFC,grant Nos.12233008,12173037 and 11973038)+1 种基金the China Manned Space Project(No.CMS-CSST-2021-A07)the Cyrus Chun Ying Tang Foundations。
文摘Expected to be of the highest survey power telescope in the northern hemisphere,the Wide Field Survey Telescope(WFST)will begin its routine observations of the northern sky since 2023.WFST will produce a lot of scientific data to support the researches of time-domain astronomy,asteroids and the solar system,galaxy formation and cosmology and so on.We estimated that the 5σlimiting magnitudes of WFST with 30 s exposure are u=22.31mag,g=23.42 mag,r=22.95 mag,i=22.43 mag,z=21.50 mag,w=23.61 mag.The above values are calculated for the conditions of airmass=1.2,seeing=075,precipitable water vapor=2.5 mm and Moon-object separation=45°at the darkest New Moon night of the Lenghu site(V=22.30 mag,Moon phaseθ=0°).The limiting magnitudes in different Moon phase conditions are also calculated.The calculations are based on the empirical transmittance data of WFST optics,the vendor provided CCD quantum efficiency,the atmospherical model transmittance and spectrum of the site.In the absence of measurement data such as sky transmittance and spectrum,we use model data.
基金The Guo Shou Jing Telescope(the Large-sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope,LAMOST)is a National Major Scientific Project built by the Chinese Academy of Sciences.Funding for the project has been provided by the National Development and Reform Commissionsupported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC,Grant No.12073047)。
文摘Large scale spectroscopic surveys such as that using Large-sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope(LAMOST) have collected spectra of millions stars in the Milky Way.Utilizing this huge sample of stars to study the assembling history and structure of our Galaxy requires accurate estimates of distance,extinction,age,and mass for individual stars.Combining the parallax constraint from Gaia EDR3 with Bayesian inference,we have estimated the distance and extinction for stars observed in LAMOST DR7,as well as the stellar mass and age for evolved stars in this data release.We validated the accuracies of the stellar parameters by comparing our results against various measurements,including the star-pair technique,asteroseismology,globular clusters,and isochrone fits to main sequence stars and subgiants.This is a valuable catalog of stellar parameters under a Bayesian framework estimated using the data from Gaia EDR3 and LAMOST spectroscopic data.With this data set we explored the stellar population of the Galactic massive substructure Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus(GSE).The kinematically selected members of GSE have a median metallicity of [Fe/H] =-1.29 and a median age of 11.6 Gyr.
基金the support of the CAS International Cooperation Program(Grant No.114332KYSB20190009)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC)Grant No.12033004+2 种基金supported by grant 12173003 from the NSFCFunding for the project has been provided by the National Development and Reform Commissionsupported by the National Science Foundation under grant Nos.AST1440341 and AST-2034437。
文摘We present an analysis of 288 young stellar objects(YSOs)in the Perseus molecular cloud that have well defined g and r-band lightcurves from the Zwicky Transient Facility.Of the 288 YSOs,238 sources(83%of our working sample)are identified as variables based on the normalized peak-to-peak variability metric,with variability fraction of 92%for stars with disks and 77%for the diskless populations.These variables are classified into different categories using the quasiperiodicity(Q)and flux asymmetry(M)metrics.Fifty-three variables are classified as strictly periodic objects that are well phased and can be attributed to spot modulated stellar rotation.We also identify 22 bursters and 25 dippers,which can be attributed to accretion burst and variable extinction,respectively.YSOs with disks tend to have asymmetric and non-repeatable lightcurves,while the YSOs without disks tend to have(quasi)periodic lightcurves.The periodic variables have the steepest change in g versus g-r,while bursters have much flatter changes than dippers in g versus g-r.Periodic and quasiperiodic variables display the lowest variability amplitude.Simple models suggest that the variability amplitudes of periodic variables correspond to changes of the spot coverage of 30%-40%,burster variables are attributed to accretion luminosity changes in the range of L_(acc)/L_(*)=0.1-0.3,and dippers are due to variable extinction with A_(V)changes in the range of 0.5-1.3 mag.
基金the European Space Agency(ESA)mission Gaia,processed by the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium(DPAC).This research has made use of the SIMBAD database,operated at CDS,Strasbourg,France.
文摘We address the physical and kinematical properties of Wolf–Rayet[WR]central stars(CSs)and their host planetary nebulae(PNe).The studied sample comprises all[WR]CSs that are currently known.The analysis is based on recent observations of the parallax,proper motion,and color index of[WR]CSs from the Gaia space mission’s early third release(eDR3)catalog,as well as common nebular characteristics.The results revealed an evolutionary sequence,in terms of decreasing Teff,from the early hot[WO 1]to the late cold[WC 12]stars.This evolutionary sequence extends beyond[WR]CS temperature and luminosity to additional CS and nebular characteristics.The statistical analysis shows that the mean final stellar mass and evolutionary age of the[WR]CS sample are 0.595±0.13M⊙and 9449±2437 yr,respectively,with a mean nebular dynamical age of 7270±1380 yr.In addition,we recognize that the color of the majority(∼85%)of[WR]CSs tends to be red rather than their genuine blue color.The analysis indicates that two-thirds of the apparent red color of most[WR]s is attributed to the interstellar extinction whereas the other one-third is due to the PN self-extinction effect.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC)grants 12073091 and 12273122Guangdong Major Project of Basic and Applied Basic Research Grant(2019B030302001)a science research grant from the China Manned Space Project(CMS-CSST-2021-B11)。
文摘Detached and wide-orbit black hole-star binaries(BHSBs)can generate three types of periodic photometric signals:Ellipsoidal Variation,Doppler beaming and Self-Lensing(SL),providing a proxy to discover these black holes.We estimate the relative amplitude of the three signals for such systems and the detectability for black holes of a photometric telescope like Kepler in several steps.We estimate the searchable star number by assuming every star has a black hole companion,and apply the occurrence of BHSBs in field stars to estimate the detectable black hole signals.We consider three types of Initial Mass Function(IMF)model with different high end exponential slopes.“When spot and white noise are both considered,there is about one detectable signal for SL and less than one event is expected for beaming and Ellipsoidal Variation signal in Kepler Input Catalog stars with the standard IMF model.”to“Due to contamination by stellar spots and white noise,one may expect one detectable signal for SL and less than one detectable signal for both beaming and Ellipsoidal Variation in Kepler Input Catalog stars with the standard IMF model.”On the other hand,if we assume that only white noise affects the detection efficiency of the BHSBs,we expect about 10 Ellipsoidal Variation signals and 17 beaming signals to be detectable while the number of SL signals remains unchanged.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.11863006,U1838203,and U2038104)the Science&Technology Department of Yunnan Province—Yunnan University Joint Funding(2019FY003005)the Bureau of International Cooperation,Chinese Academy of Sciences under the grant GJHZ1864。
文摘The analysis of light variation of M87 can help us understand the disk evolution.In the past decade,M87 has experienced several short-term light variabilities related to flares.We also find that there are year-scale X-ray variations in the core of M87.Their light variability properties are similar to clumpy-ADAF.By re-analyzing 56Chandra observations from 2007 to 2019,we distinguish the“non-flaring state”from“flaring state”in the light variability.After removing flaring state data,we identify four gas clumps in the nucleus and all of them can be well fitted by the clumpy-ADAF model.The average mass accretion rate is~0.16M⊙yr^(-1).We analyze the photon index(Γ)-flux(2-10 keV)correlation between the non-flaring state and flaring state.For the non-flaring states,the flux is inversely proportional to the photon index.For the flaring states,we find no obvious correlation between the two parameters.In addition,we find that the flare always occurs at a high mass accretion rate,and after the luminosity of the flare reaches the peak,it will be accompanied by a sudden decrease in luminosity.Our results can be explained as that the energy released by magnetic reconnection destroys the structure of the accretion disk,thus the luminosity decreases rapidly and returns to normal levels thereafter.
文摘We present the timing and spectral studies of the Be/X-ray binary XTE J1946+274 during its 2018 and 2021 giant outbursts using observations with the SXT and LAXPC instruments on the AstroSat satellite.Unlike the 1998 and 2010 outbursts,where a giant outburst was followed by several low intensity periodic outbursts,the 2018 and 2021 outbursts were single outbursts.The X-ray pulsations are detected over a broad energy band covering 0.5–80 keV from the compact object.We construct the spin evolution history of the pulsar over two decades and find that the pulsar spins-up during the outbursts but switches to spin-down state in the quiescent periods between the outbursts.Energy resolved pulse profiles generated in several bands in 0.5–80 keV show that the pulse shape varies with the energy.The energy spectrum of the pulsar is determined for the 2018 and 2021 outbursts.The best fit spectral models require presence of cyclotron resonant scattering feature at about 43 keV in the energy spectra of both the outbursts.We find indication of possible reversal in the correlation between the cyclotron line energy and luminosity which needs to be ascertained from future observations.Using the best fit spectra the X-ray luminosity of XTE J1946+274 is inferred to be 2.7×10^(37) erg s^(-1) for the 2018 observations and 2.3×10^(37) erg s^(-1) for the 2021 observations.We discuss possible mechanisms which can drive outbursts in this transient Be X-ray binary.
基金financial support from the SERB Core Research Grant project,the Government of Indiasupport from the SRF INSPIRE(IF 170314)fellowship program,Government of India。
文摘Marginal short-period contact binaries are important to understand as they pose a different physical scenario than the predicted theoretical model based on the thermal relaxation oscillation mechanism due to their shallow degree of contact.Here we present the optical and X-ray studies of a contact binary source RW Dor using the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite(TESS)and XMM-Newton telescopes.For the first time we report the varying O'Connell effect and explain the asymmetry with a spot model.Based on the new times of minima,we make a robust estimate of the orbital period of the third body at 47.01~0.52 yr with an eccentricity e=0.21.We show that the period-decreasing trend observed in O-C variation can be explained by both conservative mass transfer from primary to secondary and AML via stellar wind.The X-ray luminosity exhibited by RW Dor did not vary significantly on three different occasions and was found to be about 3.34×10~(29)erg s~(-1).Assuming that the quiescent X-ray emission is emitted from an undisturbed loop structure,the loop size is estimated to be 0.6-1×10~(10)cm which is≤Alfvén radius r_A~8×10~(10)cm.
