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We consider the general problem of a Parker-type non-relativistic isothermal wind from a rotating and magnetic star. Using the magnetohydrodynamics code athena++, we construct an array of simulations in the stellar rotation rate Ω* and the isothermal sound speed cT, and calculate the mass, angular momentum, and energy loss rates across this parameter space. We also briefly consider the 3D case, with misaligned magnetic and rotation axes. We discuss applications of our results to the spin-down of normal stars, highly irradiated exoplanets, and to nascent highly magnetic and rapidly rotating neutron stars born in massive star core-collapse.

Rapidly rotating magnetars have been associated with gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and superluminous supernovae (SLSNe). Using a suite of two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations at fixed neutrino luminosity and a couple of evolutionary models with evolving neutrino luminosity and magnetar spin period, we show that magnetars are viable central engines for powering GRBs and SLSNe. We also present analytical estimates of the energy outflow rate from the proto-neutron star (PNS) as a function of polar magnetic field strength B0, PNS angular velocity Ω⋆, PNS radius R⋆, and mass outflow rate $\dot{M}$. We show that rapidly rotating magnetars with spin periods P⋆ ≲ 4 ms and polar magnetic field strength B0 ≳ 1015 G can release 1050 to 5 × 1051 erg of energy during the first ∼2 s of the cooling phase. Based on this result, it is plausible that sustained energy injection by magnetars through the relativistic wind phase can power GRBs. We also show that magnetars with moderate field strengths of B0 ≲ 5 × 1014 G do not release a large fraction of their rotational kinetic energy during the cooling phase and, hence, are not likely to power GRBs. Although we cannot simulate to times greater than ∼3–5 s after a supernova, we can hypothesize that moderate field strength magnetars can brighten the supernova light curves by releasing their rotational kinetic energy via magnetic dipole radiation on time-scales of days to weeks, since these do not expend most of their rotational kinetic energy during the early cooling phase.

Radiation pressure on dust is an important feedback process around star clusters and may eject gas from bright subregions in star-forming galaxies. The Eddington ratio has previously been constructed for galaxy-averaged observations, individual star clusters, and Galactic H ii regions. Here we assess the role of radiation pressure in thousands of subregions across two local star-forming galaxies, NGC 6946 and NGC 5194. Using a model for the spectral energy distribution from stellar population synthesis and realistic dust grain scattering and absorption, we compute flux and radiation pressure-mean opacities and population-averaged optical depth 〈τRP〉. Using Monte-Carlo calculations, we assess the momentum coupling through a dusty column to the stellar continuum. Optically-thin regions around young stellar populations are 30–50 times super-Eddington. We calculate the Eddington ratio for the subregions including the local mass of young and old stars and cool atomic and molecular gas. We compute the fraction of the total star formation that is currently super-Eddington, and provide an assessment of the role of radiation pressure in the dusty gas dynamics. Depending on the assumed height of the dusty gas and the age of the stellar population, we find that ∼0–10 per cent of the sightlines are super-Eddington. These regions may be accelerated to ∼5–15 km s−1 by radiation pressure alone. Additionally, our results show that for beamed radiation, the function 1 − exp (−〈τRP〉) is an excellent approximation to the momentum transfer. Opacities and optical depths are tabulated for SEDs of different stellar ages and for continuous star formation.

We study the properties of cosmic-ray (CR) driven galactic winds from the warm interstellar medium using idealized spherically symmetric time-dependent simulations. The key ingredients in the model are radiative cooling and CR-streaming-mediated heating of the gas. Cooling and CR heating balance near the base of the wind, but this equilibrium is thermally unstable, leading to a multiphase wind with large fluctuations in density and temperature. In most of our simulations, the heating eventually overwhelms cooling, leading to a rapid increase in temperature and a thermally driven wind; the exception to this is in galaxies with the shallowest potentials, which produce nearly isothermal $T \approx 10^4\,$ K winds driven by CR pressure. Many of the time-averaged wind solutions found here have a remarkable critical point structure, with two critical points. Scaled to real galaxies, we find mass outflow rates $\dot{M}$ somewhat larger than the observed star-formation rate in low-mass galaxies, and an approximately ‘energy-like’ scaling $\dot{M} \propto v_{\rm esc}^{-2}$. The winds accelerate slowly and reach asymptotic wind speeds of only ∼0.4vesc. The total wind power is $\sim 1~{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ of the power from supernovae, suggesting inefficient preventive CR feedback for the physical conditions modelled here. We predict significant spatially extended emission and absorption lines from 104–105.5 K gas; this may correspond to extraplanar diffuse ionized gas seen in star-forming galaxies.

Masses and radii of stars can be derived by combining eclipsing binary light curves with spectroscopic orbits. In our previous work, we modelled the All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN) light curves of more than 30 000 detached eclipsing binaries using phoebe. Here, we combine our results with 128 double-lined spectroscopic orbits from Gaia Data Release 3. We also visually inspect ASAS-SN light curves of the Gaia double-lined spectroscopic binaries on the lower main sequence and the giant branch, adding 11 binaries to our sample. We find that only 50 per cent of systems have Gaia periods and eccentricities consistent with the ASAS-SN values. We use emcee and phoebe to determine masses and radii for a total of 122 stars with median fractional uncertainties of 7.9 per cent and 6.3 per cent, respectively.

We analyze image and spectral data from ≈365 ks of observations from the Chandra X-ray Observatory of the nearby, edge-on starburst galaxy NGC 253 to constrain properties of the hot phase of the outflow. We focus our analysis on the −1.1 to +0.63 kpc region of the outflow and define several regions for spectral extraction where we determine best-fit temperatures and metal abundances. We find that the temperatures and electron densities peak in the central ∼250 pc region of the outflow and decrease with distance. These temperature and density profiles are in disagreement with an adiabatic spherically expanding starburst wind model and suggest the presence of additional physics such as mass loading and nonspherical outflow geometry. Our derived temperatures and densities yield cooling times in the nuclear region of a few million years, which may imply that the hot gas can undergo bulk radiative cooling as it escapes along the minor axis. Our metal abundances of O, Ne, Mg, Si, S, and Fe all peak in the central region and decrease with distance along the outflow, with the exception of Ne, which maintains a flat distribution. The metal abundances indicate significant dilution outside of the starburst region. We also find estimates of the mass outflow rates, which are 2.8M_⊙yr⁻¹in the northern outflow and 3.2M_⊙yr⁻¹in the southern outflow. Additionally, we detect emission from charge exchange and find it makes a significant contribution (20%–42%) to the total broadband (0.5–7 keV) X-ray emission in the central and southern regions of the outflow.

Galactic outflows from local starburst galaxies typically exhibit a layered geometry, with cool 10⁴K flow sheathing a hotter 10⁷K, cylindrically collimated, X-ray-emitting plasma. Here we argue that winds driven by energy injection in a ring-like geometry can produce this distinctive large-scale multiphase morphology. The ring configuration is motivated by the observation that massive young star clusters are often distributed in a ring at the host galaxy’s inner Lindblad resonance, where larger-scale spiral arm structure terminates. We present parameterized three-dimensional radiative hydrodynamical simulations that follow the emergence and dynamics of energy-driven hot winds from starburst rings. In this letter, we show that the flow shocks on itself within the inner ring hole, maintaining high 10⁷K temperatures, while flows that emerge from the wind-driving ring unobstructed can undergo rapid bulk cooling down to 10⁴K, producing a fast hot biconical outflow enclosed by a sheath of cooler nearly comoving material without ram pressure acceleration. The hot flow is collimated along the ring axis, even in the absence of pressure confinement from a galactic disk or magnetic fields. In the early stages of expansion, the emerging wind forms a bubble-like shape reminiscent of the Milky Way’s eROSITA and Fermi bubbles and can reach velocities usually associated with active-galactic-nucleus-driven winds. We discuss the physics of the ring configuration, the conditions for radiative bulk cooling, and the implications for future X-ray observations.

ASASSN-14ko is a nuclear transient at the center of the AGN ESO 253−G003 that undergoes periodic flares. Optical flares were first observed in 2014 by the All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN) and their peak times are well-modeled with a period of${115.2}_{-1.2}^{+1.3}$days and period derivative of −0.0026 ± 0.0006. Here we present ASAS-SN, Chandra, HST/STIS, NICER, Swift, and TESS data for the flares that occurred on 2020 December, 2021 April, 2021 July, and 2021 November. These four flares represent flares 18–21 of the total number of flares observed by ASAS-SN so far since 2014. The HST/STIS UV spectra evolve from blueshifted broad absorption features to redshifted broad emission features over ∼10 days. The Swift UV/optical light curves peaked as predicted by the timing model, but the peak UV luminosities that varied between flares and the UV flux in Flare 20 were roughly half the brightness of the other peaks. The X-ray luminosities consistently decreased and the spectra became harder during the UV/optical rise, but apparently without changes in absorption. Finally, two high-cadence TESS light curves from Flare 18 and Flare 12 showed that the slopes during the rising and declining phases changed over time, which indicates some stochasticity in the flare’s driving mechanism. Although ASASSN-14ko remains observationally consistent with a repeating partial tidal disruption event, these rich multi-wavelength data are in need of a detailed theoretical model.

The analytic galactic wind model derived by Chevalier and Clegg in 1985 (CC85) assumes uniform energy and mass-injection within the starburst galaxy nucleus. However, the structure of nuclear star clusters, bulges, and star-forming knots are non-uniform. We generalize to cases with spherically-symmetric energy/mass injection that scale as r−Δ within the starburst volume R, providing solutions for Δ = 0, 1/2, 1, 3/2, and 2. In marked contrast with the CC85 model (Δ = 0), which predicts zero velocity at the centre, for a singular isothermal sphere profile (Δ = 2), we find that the flow maintains a constant Mach number of $\mathcal {M}=\sqrt{3/5} \simeq 0.77$ throughout the volume. The fast interior flow can be written as $v_{r \lt R} = (\dot{E}_T/3\dot{M}_T)^{1/2} \simeq 0.41 \, v_\infty$, where v∞ is the asymptotic velocity, and $\dot{E}_T$ and $\dot{M}_T$ are the total energy and mass injection rates. For $v_\infty \simeq 2000 \, \mathrm{km \, s^{-1}}$, $v_{r\lt R} \simeq 820 \, \mathrm{km\, s^{-1}}$ throughout the wind-driving region. The temperature and density profiles of the non-uniform models may be important for interpreting spatially-resolved maps of starburst nuclei. We compute velocity resolved spectra to contrast the Δ = 0 (CC85) and Δ = 2 models. Next generation X-ray space telescopes such as XRISM may assess these kinematic predictions.

In the seconds following their formation in core-collapse supernovae, ‘proto’-magnetars drive neutrino-heated magnetocentrifugal winds. Using a suite of two-dimensional axisymmetric magnetohydrodynamic simulations, we show that relatively slowly rotating magnetars with initial spin periods of P⋆0 = 50–500 ms spin down rapidly during the neutrino Kelvin–Helmholtz cooling epoch. These initial spin periods are representative of those inferred for normal Galactic pulsars, and much slower than those invoked for gamma-ray bursts and superluminous supernovae. Since the flow is non-relativistic at early times, and because the Alfvén radius is much larger than the proto-magnetar radius, spin-down is millions of times more efficient than the typically used dipole formula. Quasi-periodic plasmoid ejections from the closed zone enhance spin-down. For polar magnetic field strengths B0 ≳ 5 × 1014 G, the spin-down time-scale can be shorter than the Kelvin–Helmholtz time-scale. For B0 ≳ 1015 G, it is of the order of seconds in early phases. We compute the spin evolution for cooling proto-magnetars as a function of B0, P⋆0, and mass (M). Proto-magnetars born with B0 greater than $\simeq 1.3\times 10^{15}\, {\rm \, G}\, (P_{\star 0}/{400\, \rm \, ms})^{-1.4}(M/1.4\, {\rm M}_\odot)^{2.2}$ spin down to periods >1 s in just the first few seconds of evolution, well before the end of the cooling epoch and the onset of classic dipole spin-down. Spin-down is more efficient for lower M and for larger P⋆0. We discuss the implications for observed magnetars, including the discrepancy between their characteristic ages and supernova remnant ages. Finally, we speculate on the origin of 1E 161348−5055 in the remnant RCW 103, and the potential for other ultra-slowly rotating magnetars.