More Like this

1. Photometry of Saturated Stars with Neural Networks

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad5a0b  

   Winecki, Dominik; Kochanek, Christopher_S (August 2024, The Astrophysical Journal)

   Abstract We use a multilevel perceptron (MLP) neural network to obtain photometry of saturated stars in the All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN). The MLP can obtain fairly unbiased photometry for stars fromg≃ 4 to 14 mag, particularly compared to the dispersion (15%–85% 1σrange around the median) of 0.12 mag for saturated (g< 11.5 mag) stars. More importantly, the light curve of a nonvariable saturated star has a median dispersion of only 0.037 mag. The MLP light curves are, in many cases, spectacularly better than those provided by the standard ASAS-SN pipelines. While the network was trained ong-band data from only one of ASAS-SN’s 20 cameras, initial experiments suggest that it can be used for any camera and the older ASAS-SNV-band data as well. The dominant problems seem to be associated with correctable issues in the ASAS-SN data reduction pipeline for saturated stars more than the MLP itself. The method is publicly available as a light-curve option on ASAS-SN Sky Patrol v1.0. 

   more » « less
2. A Southern Photometric Quasar Catalog from the Dark Energy Survey Data Release 2

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4365/ac9ea8  

   Yang, Qian; Shen, Yue (December 2022, The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series)

   Abstract We present a catalog of 1.4 million photometrically selected quasar candidates in the southern hemisphere over the ∼5000 deg²Dark Energy Survey (DES) wide survey area. We combine optical photometry from the DES second data release (DR2) with available near-infrared (NIR) and the all-sky unWISE mid-infrared photometry in the selection. We build models of quasars, galaxies, and stars with multivariate skew-tdistributions in the multidimensional space of relative fluxes as functions of redshift (or color for stars) and magnitude. Our selection algorithm assigns probabilities for quasars, galaxies, and stars and simultaneously calculates photometric redshifts (photo-z) for quasar and galaxy candidates. Benchmarking on spectroscopically confirmed objects, we successfully classify (with photometry) 94.7% of quasars, 99.3% of galaxies, and 96.3% of stars when all IR bands (NIRYJHKand WISE W1W2) are available. The classification and photo-zregression success rates decrease when fewer bands are available. Our quasar (galaxy) photo-zquality, defined as the fraction of objects with the difference between the photo-z z_pand the spectroscopic redshiftz_s, ∣Δz∣ ≡ ∣z_s−z_p∣/(1 +z_s) ≤ 0.1, is 92.2% (98.1%) when all IR bands are available, decreasing to 72.2% (90.0%) using optical DES data only. Our photometric quasar catalog achieves an estimated completeness of 89% and purity of 79% atr< 21.5 (0.68 million quasar candidates), with reduced completeness and purity at 21.5 <r≲ 24. Among the 1.4 million quasar candidates, 87,857 have existing spectra, and 84,978 (96.7%) of them are spectroscopically confirmed quasars. Finally, we provide quasar, galaxy, and star probabilities for all (0.69 billion) photometric sources in the DES DR2 coadded photometric catalog. 

   more » « less
3. SN 2022jli: A Type Ic Supernova with Periodic Modulation of Its Light Curve and an Unusually Long Rise

   https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/acfc25  

   Moore, T.; Smartt, S. J.; Nicholl, M.; Srivastav, S.; Stevance, H. F.; Jess, D. B.; Grant, S. D. T.; Fulton, M. D.; Rhodes, L.; Sim, S. A.; et al (October 2023, The Astrophysical Journal Letters)

   Abstract We present multiwavelength photometry and spectroscopy of SN 2022jli, an unprecedented Type Ic supernova discovered in the galaxy NGC 157 at a distance of ≈ 23 Mpc. The multiband light curves reveal many remarkable characteristics. Peaking at a magnitude ofg= 15.11 ± 0.02, the high-cadence photometry reveals periodic undulations of 12.5 ± 0.2 days superimposed on the 200-day supernova decline. This periodicity is observed in the light curves from nine separate filter and instrument configurations with peak-to-peak amplitudes of ≃ 0.1 mag. This is the first time that repeated periodic oscillations, over many cycles, have been detected in a supernova light curve. SN 2022jli also displays an extreme early excess that fades over ≈25 days, followed by a rise to a peak luminosity ofL_opt= 10^42.1erg s⁻¹. Although the exact explosion epoch is not constrained by data, the time from explosion to maximum light is ≳ 59 days. The luminosity can be explained by a large ejecta mass (M_ej≈ 12 ± 6M_⊙) powered by⁵⁶Ni, but we find it difficult to quantitatively model the early excess with circumstellar interaction and cooling. Collision between the supernova ejecta and a binary companion is a possible source of this emission. We discuss the origin of the periodic variability in the light curve, including interaction of the SN ejecta with nested shells of circumstellar matter and neutron stars colliding with binary companions. 

   more » « less
4. Direct measurement of stellar angular diameters by the VERITAS Cherenkov telescopes

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-019-0741-z  

   Benbow, W.; Bird, R.; Brill, A.; Brose, R.; Chromey, A. J.; Daniel, M. K.; Feng, Q.; Finley, J. P.; Fortson, L.; Furniss, A.; et al (April 2019, Nature Astronomy)

   The angular size of a star is a critical factor in determining its basic properties. Direct measurement of stellar angular diameters is difficult: at interstellar distances stars are generally too small to resolve by any individual imaging telescope. This fundamental limitation can be overcome by studying the diffraction pattern in the shadow cast when an asteroid occults a star, but only when the photometric uncertainty is smaller than the noise added by atmospheric scintillation. Atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes used for particle astrophysics observations have not generally been exploited for optical astronomy due to the modest optical quality of the mirror surface. However, their large mirror area makes them well suited for such high-time-resolution precision photometry measurements. Here we report two occultations of stars observed by the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) Cherenkov telescopes with millisecond sampling, from which we are able to provide a direct measurement of the occulted stars’ angular diameter at the ≤0.1 mas scale. This is a resolution never achieved before with optical measurements and represents an order of magnitude improvement over the equivalent lunar occultation method. We compare the resulting stellar radius with empirically derived estimates from temperature and brightness measurements, confirming the latter can be biased for stars with ambiguous stellar classifications. 

   more » « less
5. Synchronous Rotation in the (136199) Eris–Dysnomia System

   https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/acdd5f  

   Bernstein, Gary M.; Holler, Bryan J.; Navarro-Escamilla, Rosario; Bernardinelli, Pedro H.; Abbott, T. M. C.; Aguena, M.; Allam, S.; Alves, O.; Andrade-Oliveira, F.; Annis, J.; et al (June 2023, The Planetary Science Journal)

   Abstract We combine photometry of Eris from a 6 month campaign on the Palomar 60 inch telescope in 2015, a 1 month Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 campaign in 2018, and Dark Energy Survey data spanning 2013–2018 to determine a light curve of definitive period 15.771 ± 0.008 days (1σformal uncertainties), with nearly sinusoidal shape and peak-to-peak flux variation of 3%. This is consistent at part-per-thousand precision with theP= 15.785 90 ± 0.00005 day sidereal period of Dysnomia’s orbit around Eris, strengthening the recent detection of synchronous rotation of Eris by Szakáts et al. with independent data. Photometry from Gaia are consistent with the same light curve. We detect a slope of 0.05 ± 0.01 mag per degree of Eris’s brightness with respect to illumination phase averaged acrossg,V, andrbands, intermediate between Pluto’s and Charon’s values. Variations of 0.3 mag are detected in Dysnomia’s brightness, plausibly consistent with a double-peaked light curve at the synchronous period. The synchronous rotation of Eris is consistent with simple tidal models initiated with a giant-impact origin of the binary, but is difficult to reconcile with gravitational capture of Dysnomia by Eris. The high albedo contrast between Eris and Dysnomia remains unexplained in the giant-impact scenario. 

   more » « less