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Abstract Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are millisecond-duration radio transients that serve as unique probes of ionizedextragalactic matter. We report the discovery and localization of two FRBs piercing the Andromeda galaxy (M31) with the realfast transient-detection system at the Very Large Array. These unique sightlines enable constraints on M31’s electron density distribution. We localized FRB 20230930A to a host galaxy at redshiftz= 0.0925 and FRB 20230506C to a host galaxy at redshiftz= 0.3896. After accounting for the dispersion contributions from the Milky Way, the host galaxies, and the intergalactic medium, we estimate M31’s contribution to be 26–239 pc cm⁻³toward FRB 20230930A and 51–366 pc cm⁻³toward FRB 20230506C, within the 90% credible interval (CI). By modeling the M31 disk’s contribution, we isolate the halo component and find that M31’s halo contributes 7–169 pc cm⁻³along FRB 20230930A (90% CI). The inferred values of DM_M31,halofrom the FRBs are consistent with predictions from a modified Navarro–Frenk–White profile at the corresponding impact parameter. The cool and warm phase gas is unlikely to account for the DM_M31,halounless the ionization fraction is as high as 90%. While limited to two sightlines, these results offer tentative evidence for the existence of a hot halo surrounding M31. We also discuss the potential contribution of other foreground structures, particularly in explaining the DM excess observed in FRB 20230506C. This work demonstrates how FRBs can be used to probe the circumgalactic medium of intervening galaxies. 

Abstract The time-variable emission from the accretion flow of Sgr A*, the supermassive black hole at the Galactic center, has long been examined in the radio-to-millimeter, near-infrared (NIR), and X-ray regimes of the electromagnetic spectrum. However, until now, sensitivity and angular resolution have been insufficient in the crucial mid-infrared (MIR) regime. The MIRI instrument on JWST has changed that, and we report the first MIR detection of Sgr A*. The detection was during a flare that lasted about 40 minutes, a duration similar to NIR and X-ray flares, and the source's spectral index steepened as the flare ended. The steepening suggests that synchrotron cooling is an important process for Sgr A*'s variability and implies magnetic fields strengths ~ 40–70 G in the emission zone. Observations at 1.3 mm with the Submillimeter Array revealed a counterpart flare lagging the MIR flare by ≈10 minutes. The observations can be self-consistently explained as synchrotron radiation from a single population of gradually cooling high-energy electrons accelerated through (a combination of) magnetic reconnection and/or magnetized turbulence. 

ABSTRACT Fast-rotating pulsars and magnetars have been suggested as the central engines of superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) and fast radio bursts, and this scenario naturally predicts non-thermal synchrotron emission from their nascent pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe). We report results of high-frequency radio observations with ALMA and NOEMA for three SLSNe (SN 2015bn, SN 2016ard, and SN 2017egm), and present a detailed theoretical model to calculate non-thermal emission from PWNe with an age of ∼1−3 yr. We find that the ALMA data disfavours a PWN model motivated by the Crab nebula for SN 2015bn and SN 2017egm, and argue that this tension can be resolved if the nebular magnetization is very high or very low. Such models can be tested by future MeV–GeV gamma-ray telescopes such as AMEGO. 

Abstract We present the first detailed polarimetric studies of Cygnus A at 230 GHz with the Submillimeter Array (SMA) to constrain the mass accretion rate onto its supermassive black hole. We detected the polarized emission associated with the core at a fractional polarization of . This low fractional polarization suggests that the polarized emission is highly depolarized. One of the possible explanations is due to a significant variance in the Faraday rotation measure within the synthesized beam. By assuming the Faraday depolarization caused by inhomogeneous column density of the magnetized plasma associated with the surrounding radiatively-inefficient accretion flow within the SMA beam, we derived the constraint on the mass accretion rate to be larger than 0.15 yr −1 at the Bondi radius. The derived constraint indicates that an adiabatic inflow–outflow solution or an advection-dominated accretion flow should be preferable as the accretion flow model in order to explain the jet power of Cygnus A. 

Context.Sagittarius A* (Sgr A^*), the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, provides a unique laboratory to study accretion dynamics and plasma processes near the event horizon. Aims.We investigated the variability and polarization properties of Sgr A^*using ALMA observations during the 2018 Event Horizon Telescope campaign. Methods.We analyzed high-cadence full-polarization light curves from ALMA at millimeter wavelengths, performed time-series analysis, and investigated the temporal behavior during an X-ray flare observed byChandraon 2018 April 24. The variability characteristics are compared with expectations from standard accretion flow models. Results.We find low variability in total intensity (σ/μ < 10%), but significantly higher variability in linear and circular polarization (∼30% and ∼50%, respectively). A time-series analysis reveals red-noise variability, with power spectral densities between −2 and −3 across all Stokes parameters. Polarized intensity shows stable intra-day timescales, while total intensity exhibits more variable timescales, suggesting distinct emission regions, with polarization likely arising from a coherent structure. On April 24, a statistically significant inter-band delay in polarized intensity coincides with a near-simultaneous X-ray and millimeter peak that deviates from the typical delayed flare scenario. This event also features enhanced millimeter variability and coherent polarization loop evolution. The observed simultaneity challenges standard models of transient synchrotron emission with cooling delays, favoring instead a scenario of continuous energy injection in an optically thin region. Conclusions.Our results offer new constraints on the physical mechanisms driving variability in Sgr A^*, and provide key observational input for refining theoretical models of accretion and plasma behavior in the vicinity of supermassive black holes. 

Abstract Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) images of the supermassive black hole M87* depict an asymmetric ring of emission. General relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) models of M87* and its accretion disk predict that the amplitude and location of the ring’s peak brightness asymmetry should fluctuate due to turbulence in the source plasma. We compare the observed distribution of brightness asymmetry amplitudes to the simulated distribution in GRMHD models, across varying black hole spina_*. We show that, for strongly magnetized (MAD) models, three epochs of EHT data marginally disfavor ∣a_*∣ ≲ 0.2. This is consistent with the Blandford–Znajek model for M87’s jet, which predicts that M87* should have nonzero spin. We show quantitatively how future observations could improve spin constraints and discuss how improved spin constraints could distinguish between differing jet-launching mechanisms and black hole growth scenarios. 

We investigate the presence and spatial characteristics of the jet base emission in M87* at 230 GHz, enabled by the significantly enhanced (u,v) coverage in the 2021 Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) observations. The integration of the 12−m Kitt Peak Telescope (USA) and NOEMA (France) stations into the array introduces two critical intermediate-length baselines to SMT (USA) and IRAM 30−m (Spain), providing sensitivity to emission structures at spatial scales of ∼250 μas and ∼2500 μas (∼ 0.02 pc and ∼ 0.02 pc). Without these new baselines, previous EHT observations of the source in 2017 and 2018 lacked the capability to constrain emission on large scales, where a “missing flux” of order ∼1 Jy is expected to reside. To probe these scales, we analyzed closure phases–robust against station-based gain calibration errors–and model the jet base emission using a simple Gaussian component offset from the compact ring emission at spatial separations > 100 μas. Our analysis revealed a Gaussian feature centered at (ΔRA ≈ 320 μas, ΔDec. ≈ 60 μ as), projected separation of ≈ 5500 AU, with an estimated flux density of only ∼60 mJy, implying that most of the missing flux identified in previous EHT studies had to originate from different, larger scales. Brighter emission at the relevant spatial scales is firmly ruled out, and the data do not favor more complex models. This component aligns with the inferred position of the large-scale jet and is therefore physically consistent with the emission of the jet base. While our findings point to detectable jet base emission at 230 GHz, the limited coverage provided by only two intermediate baselines limits our ability to robustly reconstruct its morphology. Consequently, we treated the recovered Gaussian as an upper limit on the jet base flux density. Future EHT observations with expanded intermediate baseline coverage will be essential to constrain the structure and nature of this component with higher precision.