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The nearby irregular galaxy NGC 4449 has a star formation rate of ∼0.4M_☉yr⁻¹and should host of order 70 supernova remnants (SNRs) younger than 20,000 yr, a typical age for SNRs expanding into an interstellar medium (ISM) with a density of 1 cm⁻³to reach the radiative phase. We have carried out an optical imaging and spectroscopic survey in an attempt to identify these SNRs. This task is challenging because diffuse gas with elevated ratios of [Sii]:Hαis omnipresent in NGC 4449, causing confusion when using this common diagnostic for SNRs. Using narrowband interference-filter images, we first identified 49 objects that have elevated [Sii]:Hαratios compared to nearby Hiiregions. Using Gemini-N and GMOS, we then obtained high-resolution spectra of 30 of these SNR candidates, 25 of which have [Sii]:Hαratios greater than 0.5. Of these, 15 nebulae are almost certainly SNRs, based on a combination of characteristics: higher [Oi]:Hαratios and broader line widths than observed from Hiiregions. The remainder are good candidates as well, but need additional confirmation. Surprisingly, despite having superior imaging and spectroscopic data sets to examine, we are unable to confirm most of the candidates suggested by Leonidaki et al. While NGC 4449 is likely an extreme case because of the high surface brightness and elevated [Sii]:Hαratio of diffuse gas, it highlights the need for sensitive high-resolution optical spectroscopy, or high spatial resolution radio or X-ray observations that can ensure accurate SNR identifications in external galaxies.

 

Abstract We present proper motion measurements of the oxygen-rich ejecta of the LMC supernova remnant N132D using two epochs of Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys data spanning 16 years. The proper motions of 120 individual knots of oxygen-rich gas were measured and used to calculate a center of expansion (CoE) of α = 5 h 25 m 01.ˢ71 and δ = −69°38′41.″64 (J2000) with a 1 σ uncertainty of 2.″90. This new CoE measurement is 9.″2 and 10.″8 from two previous CoE estimates based on the geometry of the optically emitting ejecta. We also derive an explosion age of 2770 ± 500 yr, which is consistent with recent age estimates of ≈2500 yr made from 3D ejecta reconstructions. We verified our estimates of the CoE and age using a new automated procedure that detected and tracked the proper motions of 137 knots, with 73 knots that overlap with the visually identified knots. We find that the proper motions of the ejecta are still ballistic, despite the remnant’s age, and are consistent with the notion that the ejecta are expanding into an interstellar medium cavity. Evidence for explosion asymmetry from the parent supernova is also observed. Using the visually measured proper motion measurements and corresponding CoE and age, we compare N132D to other supernova remnants with proper motion ejecta studies. 

Fuzz testing repeatedly assails software with random inputs in order to trigger unexpected program behaviors, such as crashes or timeouts, and has historically revealed serious security vulnerabilities. In this article, we present HotFuzz, a framework for automatically discovering Algorithmic Complexity (AC) time and space vulnerabilities in Java libraries. HotFuzz uses micro-fuzzing, a genetic algorithm that evolves arbitrary Java objects in order to trigger the worst-case performance for a method under test. We define Small Recursive Instantiation (SRI) as a technique to derive seed inputs represented as Java objects to micro-fuzzing. After micro-fuzzing, HotFuzz synthesizes test cases that triggered AC vulnerabilities into Java programs and monitors their execution in order to reproduce vulnerabilities outside the fuzzing framework. HotFuzz outputs those programs that exhibit high resource utilization as witnesses for AC vulnerabilities in a Java library. We evaluate HotFuzz over the Java Runtime Environment (JRE), the 100 most popular Java libraries on Maven, and challenges contained in the DARPA Space and Time Analysis for Cybersecurity (STAC) program. We evaluate SRI’s effectiveness by comparing the performance of micro-fuzzing with SRI, measured by the number of AC vulnerabilities detected, to simply using empty values as seed inputs. In this evaluation, we verified known AC vulnerabilities, discovered previously unknown AC vulnerabilities that we responsibly reported to vendors, and received confirmation from both IBM and Oracle. Our results demonstrate that micro-fuzzing finds AC vulnerabilities in real-world software, and that micro-fuzzing with SRI-derived seed inputs outperforms using empty values in both the temporal and spatial domains. 

In order to better characterize the rich supernova remnant (SNR) population of M83 (NGC 5236), we have obtained high-resolution (∼85 km s⁻¹) spectra of 119 of the SNRs and SNR candidates in M83 with Gemini/GMOS, as well as new spectra of the young SNRs B12-174a and SN 1957D. Most of the SNRs and SNR candidates have [Sii]:Hαratios that exceed 0.4. Combining these results with earlier studies we have carried out with MUSE and at lower spectroscopic resolution with GMOS, we have confirmed a total of 238 emission nebulae to be SNRs on the basis of their [Sii]:Hαratios, about half of which have emission lines that show velocity broadening greater than 100 km s⁻¹, providing a kinematic confirmation that they are SNRs and not Hiiregions. Looking at the entire sample, we find a strong correlation between velocity widths and the line ratios of [Oi]λ6300:Hα, [Nii]λ6584:Hα, and [Sii]λλ6716, 6731:Hα. The density-sensitive [Sii]λ6716:λ6731 line ratio is strongly correlated with SNR diameter, but not with the velocity width. We discuss these results in the context of previously published shock models.

 

We present initial results from a James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) survey of the youngest Galactic core-collapse supernova remnant, Cassiopeia A (Cas A), made up of NIRCam and MIRI imaging mosaics that map emission from the main shell, interior, and surrounding circumstellar/interstellar material (CSM/ISM). We also present four exploratory positions of MIRI Medium Resolution Spectrograph integral field unit spectroscopy that sample ejecta, CSM, and associated dust from representative shocked and unshocked regions. Surprising discoveries include (1) a weblike network of unshocked ejecta filaments resolved to ∼0.01 pc scales exhibiting an overall morphology consistent with turbulent mixing of cool, low-entropy matter from the progenitor’s oxygen layer with hot, high-entropy matter heated by neutrino interactions and radioactivity; (2) a thick sheet of dust-dominated emission from shocked CSM seen in projection toward the remnant’s interior pockmarked with small (∼1″) round holes formed by ≲0.″1 knots of high-velocity ejecta that have pierced through the CSM and driven expanding tangential shocks; and (3) dozens of light echoes with angular sizes between ∼0.″1 and 1′ reflecting previously unseen fine-scale structure in the ISM. NIRCam observations place new upper limits on infrared emission (≲20 nJy at 3μm) from the neutron star in Cas A’s center and tightly constrain scenarios involving a possible fallback disk. These JWST survey data and initial findings help address unresolved questions about massive star explosions that have broad implications for the formation and evolution of stellar populations, the metal and dust enrichment of galaxies, and the origin of compact remnant objects.

 

Here we describe a new study of the supernova remnants (SNRs) and SNR candidates in nearby face-on spiral galaxy M83, based primarily on MUSE integral field spectroscopy. Our revised catalog of SNR candidates in M83 has 366 objects, 81 of which are reported here for the first time. Of these, 229 lie within the MUSE observation region, 160 of which have spectra with [Sii]:Hαratios exceeding 0.4, the value generally accepted as confirmation that an emission nebula is shock-heated. Combined with 51 SNR candidates outside the MUSE region with high [Sii]:Hαratios, there are 211 spectroscopically confirmed SNRs in M83, the largest number of confirmed SNRs in any external galaxy. MUSE’s combination of relatively high spectral resolution and broad wavelength coverage has allowed us to explore two other properties of SNRs that could serve as the basis of future SNR searches. Specifically, most of the objects identified as SNRs on the basis of [Sii]:Hαratios exhibit more velocity broadening and lower ratios of [Siii]:[Sii] emission than Hiiregions. A search for nebulae with the very broad emission lines expected from young, rapidly expanding remnants revealed none, except for the previously identified B12-174a. The SNRs identified in M83 are, with few exceptions, middle-aged interstellar medium (ISM) dominated ones. Smaller-diameter candidates show a larger range of velocity broadening and a larger range of gas densities than the larger-diameter objects, as expected if the SNRs expanding into denser gas brighten and then fade from view at smaller diameters than those expanding into a more tenuous ISM.