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1. Near-infrared Accretion Signatures from the Circumbinary Planetary-mass Companion Delorme 1 (AB)b*

   https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ac85ef  

   Betti, S. K. ; Follette, K. B. ; Ward-Duong, K. ; Aoyama, Y. ; Marleau, G. -D. ; Bary, J. ; Robinson, C. ; Janson, M. ; Balmer, W. ; Chauvin, G. ; et al ( August 2022 , The Astrophysical Journal Letters)

   Accretion signatures from bound brown dwarf and protoplanetary companions provide evidence for ongoing planet formation, and accreting substellar objects have enabled new avenues to study the astrophysical mechanisms controlling the formation and accretion processes. Delorme 1 (AB)b, a ∼30–45 Myr circumbinary planetary-mass companion, was recently discovered to exhibit strong Hαemission. This suggests ongoing accretion from a circumplanetary disk, somewhat surprising given canonical gas disk dispersal timescales of 5–10 Myr. Here, we present the first NIR detection of accretion from the companion in Paβ, Paγ, and Brγemission lines from SOAR/TripleSpec 4.1, confirming and further informing its accreting nature. The companion shows strong line emission, withL_line≈ 1–6 × 10⁻⁸L_⊙across lines and epochs, while the binary host system shows no NIR hydrogen line emission (L_line< 0.32–11 × 10⁻⁷L_⊙). Observed NIR hydrogen line ratios are more consistent with a planetary accretion shock than with local line excitation models commonly used to interpret stellar magnetospheric accretion. Using planetary accretion shock models, we derive mass accretion rate estimates of${\dot{M}}_{\mathrm{pla}}\sim 3$–4 × 10⁻⁸M_Jyr⁻¹, somewhat higher than expected under the standard star formation paradigm. Delorme 1 (AB)b’s high accretion rate is perhaps more consistent with formation via disk fragmentation. Delorme 1 (AB)b is themore »first protoplanet candidate with clear (signal-to-noise ratio ∼5) NIR hydrogen line emission.

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2. The Giant Accreting Protoplanet Survey (GAPlanetS): Optimization Techniques for Robust Detections of Protoplanets

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/aca60d  

   Adams Redai, Jéa I. ; Follette, Katherine B. ; Wang, Jason ; Leonard, Clare ; Balmer, William ; Close, Laird M. ; Dacus, Beck ; Males, Jared R. ; Morzinski, Katie M. ; Palmo, Joseph ; et al ( January 2023 , The Astronomical Journal)

   High-contrast imaging has afforded astronomers the opportunity to study light directly emitted by adolescent (tens of megayears) and “proto” (<10 Myr) planets still undergoing formation. Direct detection of these planets is enabled by empirical point-spread function (PSF) modeling and removal algorithms. The computational intensity of such algorithms, as well as their multiplicity of tunable input parameters, has led to the prevalence of ad hoc optimization approaches to high-contrast imaging results. In this work, we present a new, systematic approach to optimization vetted using data of the high-contrast stellar companion HD 142527 B from the Magellan Adaptive Optics Giant Accreting Protoplanet Survey (GAPlanetS). More specifically, we present a grid search technique designed to explore three influential parameters of the PSF subtraction algorithmpyKLIP: annuli, movement, and KL modes. We consider multiple metrics for postprocessed image quality in order to optimally recover at Hα(656 nm) synthetic planets injected into contemporaneous continuum (643 nm) images. These metrics include peak (single-pixel) signal-to-noise ratio (S/N), average (multipixel average) S/N, 5σcontrast, and false-positive fraction. We apply continuum-optimized KLIP reduction parameters to six Hαdirect detections of the low-mass stellar companion HD 142527 B and recover the companion at a range of separations. Relative to a single-informed, nonoptimizedmore »set of KLIP parameters applied to all data sets uniformly, our multimetric grid search optimization led to improvements in companion S/N of up to 1.2σ, with an average improvement of 0.6σ. Since many direct imaging detections lie close to the canonical 5σthreshold, even such modest improvements may result in higher yields in future imaging surveys.

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3. Dynamical Mass of the Young Substellar Companion HD 984 B

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ac35e8  

   Franson, Kyle ; Bowler, Brendan P. ; Brandt, Timothy D. ; Dupuy, Trent J. ; Tran, Quang H. ; Brandt, G. Mirek ; Li, Yiting ; Kraus, Adam L. ( January 2022 , The Astronomical Journal)

   Model-independent masses of substellar companions are critical tools to validate models of planet and brown dwarf cooling, test their input physics, and determine the formation and evolution of these objects. In this work, we measure the dynamical mass and orbit of the young substellar companion HD 984 B. We obtained new high-contrast imaging of the HD 984 system with Keck/NIRC2 that expands the baseline of relative astrometry from 3 to 8 yr. We also present new radial velocities of the host star with the Habitable-Zone Planet Finder spectrograph at the Hobby-Eberly Telescope. Furthermore, HD 984 exhibits a significant proper motion difference between Hipparcos and Gaia EDR3. Our joint orbit fit of the relative astrometry, proper motions, and radial velocities yields a dynamical mass of 61 ± 4M_Jupfor HD 984 B, placing the companion firmly in the brown dwarf regime. The new fit also reveals a higher eccentricity for the companion (e= 0.76 ± 0.05) compared to previous orbit fits. Given the broad age constraint for HD 984, this mass is consistent with predictions from evolutionary models. HD 984 B’s dynamical mass places it among a small but growing list of giant planet and brown dwarf companions with direct massmore »measurements.

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4. High-Cadence TESS and Ground-based Data of SN 2019esa, the Less Energetic Sibling of SN 2006gy ^∗

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac8ea7  

   Andrews, Jennifer E. ; Pearson, Jeniveve ; Lundquist, M. J. ; Sand, David J. ; Jencson, Jacob E. ; Bostroem, K. Azalee ; Hosseinzadeh, Griffin ; Valenti, S. ; Smith, Nathan ; Amaro, R. C. ; et al ( October 2022 , The Astrophysical Journal)

   We present photometric and spectroscopic observations of the nearby (D≈ 28 Mpc) interacting supernova (SN) 2019esa, discovered within hours of explosion and serendipitously observed by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). Early, high-cadence light curves from both TESS and the DLT40 survey tightly constrain the time of explosion, and show a 30 day rise to maximum light followed by a near-constant linear decline in luminosity. Optical spectroscopy over the first 40 days revealed a reddened object with narrow Balmer emission lines seen in Type IIn SNe. The slow rise to maximum in the optical light curve combined with the lack of broad Hαemission suggest the presence of very optically thick and close circumstellar material (CSM) that quickly decelerated the SN ejecta. This CSM was likely created from a massive star progenitor with an$\dot{M}$∼ 0.2M_☉yr⁻¹lost in a previous eruptive episode 3–4 yr before eruption, similar to giant eruptions of luminous blue variable stars. At late times, strong intermediate-width Caii, Fei, and Feiilines are seen in the optical spectra, identical to those seen in the superluminous interacting SN 2006gy. The strong CSM interaction masks the underlying explosion mechanism in SN 2019esa, but the combination of the luminosity,more »strength of the Hαlines, and mass-loss rate of the progenitor seem to be inconsistent with a Type Ia CSM model and instead point to a core-collapse origin.

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5. Jansky Very Large Array Detections of CO(1–0) Emission in H i-absorption-selected Galaxies at z ≳ 2

   https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ac7bdd  

   Kaur, B. ; Kanekar, N. ; Rafelski, M. ; Neeleman, M. ; Prochaska, J. X. ; Revalski, M. ( July 2022 , The Astrophysical Journal Letters)

   We report a Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array search for redshifted CO(1–0) emission from three Hi-absorption-selected galaxies atz≈ 2, identified earlier in their CO(3–2) or CO(4–3) emission. We detect CO(1–0) emission from DLA B1228-113 atz≈ 2.1933 and DLA J0918+1636 atz≈ 2.5848; these are the first detections of CO(1–0) emission in high-zHi-selected galaxies. We obtain high molecular gas masses,M_mol≈ 10¹¹× (α_CO/4.36)M_⊙, for the two objects with CO(1–0) detections, which are a factor of ≈1.5–2 lower than earlier estimates. We determine the excitation of the mid-JCO rotational levels relative to theJ= 1 level,r_J1, in Hi-selected galaxies for the first time, obtainingr₃₁= 1.00 ± 0.20 andr₄₁= 1.03 ± 0.23 for DLA J0918+1636, andr₃₁= 0.86 ± 0.21 for DLA B1228-113. These values are consistent with thermal excitation of theJ= 3 andJ= 4 levels. The excitation of theJ= 3 level in the Hi-selected galaxies is similar to that seen in massive main-sequence and submillimeter galaxies atz≳2, but higher than that in main-sequence galaxies atz≈ 1.5; the higher excitation of the galaxies atz≳ 2 is likely to be due to their higher star formation rate (SFR) surface density. We use Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3 imaging to detect the rest-frame near-ultraviolet (NUV)more »emission of DLA B1228-113, obtaining an NUV SFR of 4.44 ± 0.47M_⊙yr⁻¹, significantly lower than that obtained from the total infrared luminosity, indicating significant dust extinction in thez≈ 2.1933 galaxy.

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