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1. TOI-5344 b: A Saturn-like Planet Orbiting a Super-solar Metallicity M0 Dwarf

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ad09c2  

   Han, Te; Robertson, Paul; Kanodia, Shubham; Cañas, Caleb; Lin, Andrea S.; Stefánsson, Gumundur; Libby-Roberts, Jessica E.; Larsen, Alexander; Kobulnicky, Henry A.; Mahadevan, Suvrath; et al (December 2023, The Astronomical Journal)

   Abstract We confirm the planetary nature of TOI-5344 b as a transiting giant exoplanet around an M0-dwarf star. TOI-5344 b was discovered with the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite photometry and confirmed with ground-based photometry (the Red Buttes Observatory 0.6 m telescope), radial velocity (the Habitable-zone Planet Finder), and speckle imaging (the NN-Explore Exoplanet Stellar Speckle Imager). TOI-5344 b is a Saturn-like giant planet (ρ= 0.80 ${}_{-0.15}^{+0.17}$g cm⁻³) with a planetary radius of 9.7 ± 0.5R_⊕(0.87 ± 0.04R_Jup) and a planetary mass of ${135}_{-18}^{+17}{M}_{\oplus }$(0.42 ${}_{-0.06}^{+0.05}{M}_{\mathrm{Jup}}$). It has an orbital period of ${3.792622}_{-0.000010}^{+0.000010}$days and an orbital eccentricity of ${0.06}_{-0.04}^{+0.07}$. We measure a high metallicity for TOI-5344 of [Fe/H] = 0.48 ± 0.12, where the high metallicity is consistent with expectations from formation through core accretion. We compare the metallicity of the M-dwarf hosts of giant exoplanets to that of M-dwarf hosts of nongiants (≲8R_⊕). While the two populations appear to show different metallicity distributions, quantitative tests are prohibited by various sample caveats. 

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2. Validation of Elemental and Isotopic Abundances in Late-M Spectral Types with the Benchmark HIP 55507 AB System

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad1243  

   Xuan, Jerry W; Wang, Jason; Finnerty, Luke; Horstman, Katelyn; Grimm, Simon; Peck, Anne E; Nielsen, Eric; Knutson, Heather A; Mawet, Dimitri; Isaacson, Howard; et al (February 2024, The Astrophysical Journal)

   Abstract M dwarfs are common host stars to exoplanets but often lack atmospheric abundance measurements. Late-M dwarfs are also good analogs to the youngest substellar companions, which share similarT_eff∼ 2300–2800 K. We present atmospheric analyses for the M7.5 companion HIP 55507 B and its K6V primary star with Keck/KPIC high-resolution (R∼ 35,000)K-band spectroscopy. First, by including KPIC relative radial velocities between the primary and secondary in the orbit fit, we improve the dynamical mass precision by 60% and find $M_B={88.0}_{-3.2}^{+3.4}{M}_{\mathrm{Jup}}$, putting HIP 55507 B above the stellar–substellar boundary. We also find that HIP 55507 B orbits its K6V primary star with $a={38}_{-3}^{+4}$au ande= 0.40 ± 0.04. From atmospheric retrievals of HIP 55507 B, we measure [C/H] = 0.24 ± 0.13, [O/H] = 0.15 ± 0.13, and C/O = 0.67 ± 0.04. Moreover, we strongly detect¹³CO (7.8σsignificance) and tentatively detect ${\mathrm{H}}_2^{18}\mathrm{O}$(3.7σsignificance) in the companion’s atmosphere and measure ${}^{12}\mathrm{CO}{/}^{13}\mathrm{CO}={98}_{-22}^{+28}$and ${\mathrm{H}}_2^{16}\mathrm{O}/{\mathrm{H}}_2^{18}\mathrm{O}={240}_{-80}^{+145}$after accounting for systematic errors. From a simplified retrieval analysis of HIP 55507 A, we measure ${}^{12}\mathrm{CO}{/}^{13}\mathrm{CO}={79}_{-16}^{+21}$and ${\mathrm{C}}^{16}\mathrm{O}/{\mathrm{C}}^{18}\mathrm{O}={288}_{-70}^{+125}$for the primary star. These results demonstrate that HIP 55507 A and B have consistent¹²C/¹³C and¹⁶O/¹⁸O to the <1σlevel, as expected for a chemically homogeneous binary system. Given the similar flux ratios and separations between HIP 55507 AB and systems with young substellar companions, our results open the door to systematically measuring¹³CO and ${\mathrm{H}}_2^{18}\mathrm{O}$abundances in the atmospheres of substellar or even planetary-mass companions with similar spectral types. 

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3. Constraining Cosmological Parameters Using the Cluster Mass–Richness Relation

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ace773  

   Abdullah, Mohamed H.; Wilson, Gillian; Klypin, Anatoly; Ishiyama, Tomoaki (September 2023, The Astrophysical Journal)

   Abstract The cluster mass–richness relation (MRR) is an observationally efficient and potentially powerful cosmological tool for constraining the matter density Ω_mand the amplitude of fluctuationsσ₈using the cluster abundance technique. We derive the MRR relation usingGalWCat19, a publicly available galaxy cluster catalog we created from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-DR13 spectroscopic data set. In the MRR, cluster mass scales with richness as $\log M_{200}=\alpha +\beta \log N_{200}$. We find that the MRR we derive is consistent with both the IllustrisTNG and mini-Uchuu cosmological numerical simulations, with a slope ofβ≈ 1. We use the MRR we derived to estimate cluster masses from theGalWCat19catalog, which we then use to set constraints on Ω_mandσ₈. Utilizing the all-member MRR, we obtain constraints of Ω_m= ${0.31}_{-0.03}^{+0.04}$andσ₈= ${0.82}_{-0.04}^{+0.05}$, and utilizing the red member MRR only, we obtain Ω_m= ${0.31}_{-0.03}^{+0.04}$andσ₈= ${0.81}_{-0.04}^{+0.05}$. Our constraints on Ω_mandσ₈are consistent and very competitive with the Planck 2018 results. 

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4. Constraining the Properties of Black Hole Seeds from the Farthest Quasars

   https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad09e5  

   Fragione, Giacomo; Pacucci, Fabio (November 2023, The Astrophysical Journal Letters)

   Abstract Over 60 yr after the discovery of the first quasar, more than 275 such sources are identified in the epoch of reionization atz> 6. JWST is now exploring higher redshifts (z≳ 8) and lower-mass (≲10⁷M_⊙) ranges. The discovery of progressively farther quasars is instrumental to constraining the properties of the first population of black holes (BHs), or BH seeds, formed atz∼ 20–30. For the first time, we use Bayesian analysis of the most comprehensive catalog of quasars atz> 6 to constrain the distribution of BH seeds. We show that the mass distribution of BH seeds can be effectively described by combining a power law and a lognormal function tailored to the mass ranges associated with light and heavy seeds, assuming Eddington-limited growth and early seeding time. Our analysis reveals a power-law slope of $-{0.70}_{-0.46}^{+0.46}$and a lognormal mean of ${4.44}_{-0.30}^{+0.30}$. The inferred values of the Eddington ratio, the duty cycle, and the mean radiative efficiency are ${0.82}_{-0.10}^{+0.10}$, ${0.66}_{-0.23}^{+0.23}$, and ${0.06}_{-0.02}^{+0.02}$, respectively. Models that solely incorporate a power law or a lognormal distribution within the specific mass range corresponding to light and heavy seeds are statistically strongly disfavored, unlike models not restricted to this specific range. Our results suggest that including both components is necessary to comprehensively account for the masses of high-redshift quasars, and that both light and heavy seeds formed in the early Universe and grew to form the population of quasars we observe. 

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5. Stellar Metallicities and Gradients in the Isolated, Quenched Low-mass Galaxy Tucana

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad25ed  

   Fu, Sal Wanying; Weisz, Daniel R.; Starkenburg, Else; Martin, Nicolas; Mercado, Francisco J.; Savino, Alessandro; Boylan-Kolchin, Michael; Côté, Patrick; Dolphin, Andrew E.; Longeard, Nicolas; et al (April 2024, The Astrophysical Journal)

   Abstract We measure the metallicities of 374 red giant branch (RGB) stars in the isolated, quenched dwarf galaxy Tucana using Hubble Space Telescope narrowband (F395N) calcium H and K imaging. Our sample is a factor of ∼7 larger than what is available from previous studies. Our main findings are as follows. (i) A global metallicity distribution function (MDF) with $〈\mathrm{[Fe/H]}〉=-{1.55}_{-0.04}^{+0.04}$and ${\sigma }_{\mathrm{[Fe/H]}}={0.54}_{-0.03}^{+0.03}$. (ii) A metallicity gradient of −0.54 ± 0.07 dex $R_e^{-1}$(−2.1 ± 0.3 dex kpc⁻¹) over the extent of our imaging (∼2.5R_e), which is steeper than literature measurements. Our finding is consistent with predicted gradients from the publicly available FIRE-2 simulations, in which bursty star formation creates stellar population gradients and dark matter cores. (iii) Tucana’s bifurcated RGB has distinct metallicities: a blue RGB with $〈\mathrm{[Fe/H]}〉=-{1.78}_{-0.06}^{+0.06}$and ${\sigma }_{\mathrm{[Fe/H]}}={0.44}_{-0.06}^{+0.07}$and a red RGB with $〈\mathrm{[Fe/H]}〉=-{1.08}_{-0.07}^{+0.07}$and ${\sigma }_{\mathrm{[Fe/H]}}={0.42}_{-0.06}^{+0.06}$. (iv) At fixed stellar mass, Tucana is more metal-rich than Milky Way satellites by ∼0.4 dex, but its blue RGB is chemically comparable to the satellites. Tucana’s MDF appears consistent with star-forming isolated dwarfs, though MDFs of the latter are not as well populated. (v) About 2% of Tucana’s stars have [Fe/H] < −3% and 20% have [Fe/H] > −1. We provide a catalog for community spectroscopic follow-up. 

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