Search Publications
Image simulations for gravitational lensing with SKYLENS
Plazas, A. A.; Meneghetti, M.; Rhodes, J. +1 more
We present the latest version of the ray-tracing simulation code SKYLENS, which can be used to develop image simulations that reproduce strong lensing observations by any mass distribution with a high level of realism. Improvements of the code with respect to previous versions include the implementation of the multilens plane formalism, the use of…
Two kinematically distinct old globular cluster populations in the Large Magellanic Cloud
Piatti, Andrés E.; Cantat-Gaudin, Tristan; Alfaro, Emilio J.
We report results of proper motions of 15 known Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) old globular clusters (GCs) derived from the Gaia DR2 data sets. When these mean proper motions are gathered with existent radial velocity measurements to compose the GCs' velocity vectors, we found that the projection of the velocity vectors on to the LMC plane and those…
Unusual Isotopic Abundances in a Fully Convective Stellar Binary
Mills, E. A. C.; Crossfield, I. J. M.; Lothringer, J. D. +6 more
Low-mass M dwarfs represent the most common outcome of star formation, but their complex emergent spectra hinder detailed studies of their composition and initial formation. The measurement of isotopic ratios is a key tool that has been used to unlock the formation of our solar system, the Sun, and the nuclear processes within more massive stars. …
The Duration of Star Formation in Galactic Giant Molecular Clouds. I. The Great Nebula in Carina
Povich, Matthew S.; Nuñez, Evan Haze; Robitaille, Thomas P. +1 more
We present a novel infrared spectral energy distribution (SED) modeling methodology that uses likelihood-based weighting of the model fitting results to construct probabilistic Hertzsprung-Russell diagrams (pHRD) for X-ray-identified, intermediate-mass (2-8 M ⊙), pre-main-sequence young stellar populations. This methodology is designed …
The Lomonosov Crater Impact Event: A Possible Mega-Tsunami Source on Mars
Bouley, S.; Séjourné, A.; Lagain, A. +6 more
Recent research suggests that major meteorite impact events into a Late Hesperian/Early Amazonian ocean likely produced a mega-tsunami that would have resurfaced coastal areas in northwestern Arabia Terra. The orientations of the associated lobate deposits, a conspicuous type of landforms called Thumbprint Terrain, suggests that if an impact event…
Discovery of an old nova remnant in the Galactic globular cluster M 22
Bacon, Roland; Brinchmann, Jarle; Schmidt, Kasper B. +11 more
A nova is a cataclysmic event on the surface of a white dwarf in a binary system that increases the overall brightness by several orders of magnitude. Although binary systems with a white dwarf are expected to be overabundant in globular clusters compared with in the Galaxy, only two novae from Galactic globular clusters have been observed. We pre…
Present-day development of gully-channel sinuosity by carbon dioxide gas supported flows on Mars
Massé, Marion; Conway, Susan J.; Vincendon, Mathieu +7 more
Martian gullies have been widely studied, but their formation mechanism is still under debate. Their channels generally trend straight downslope, but some display sinuosity. Seasonally active gullies are common on sand dunes and their channels have been reported to develop sinuosity. Here, we perform a detailed analysis of a gully on a dune within…
Star formation quenching imprinted on the internal structure of naked red nuggets
van de Ven, Glenn; Yıldırım, Akın; Martín-Navarro, Ignacio
The formation and assembly process of massive galaxies is a combination of two phases: an initial in-situ-dominated one followed by an ex-situ-dominated evolution. Separating these two contributions is therefore crucial to understand the baryonic cycle within massive haloes. A recently discovered population of so-called naked red nuggets, galaxies…
Free-form GRALE reconstruction of Abell 2744: robustness of uncertainties against changes in lensing data
Medezinski, Elinor; Okabe, Nobuhiro; Liesenborgs, Jori +2 more
Abell 2744, a massive Hubble Frontier Fields merging galaxy cluster with many multiple images in the core has been the subject of many lens inversions using different methods. While most existing studies compare various inversion methods, we focus on a comparison of reconstructions that use different input lensing data. Since the quantity and qual…
Limits on a population of collisional-triples as progenitors of Type-Ia supernovae
Maoz, Dan; Hallakoun, Na'ama
The progenitor systems of Type-Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are yet unknown. The collisional-triple SN Ia progenitor model posits that SNe Ia result from head-on collisions of binary white dwarfs (WDs), driven by dynamical perturbations by the tertiary stars in mild-hierarchical triple systems. To reproduce the Galactic SN Ia rate, at least ∼30-55 per c…