Mid-infrared Period-Luminosity Relations of Gaia DR3 Long Period Variables

Long period variable(LPV)stars are very promising distance indicators in the infrared bands.We selected asymptotic giant branch(AGB)stars in the Large and Small Magellanic Cloud(LMC and SMC)from the Gaia Data Release 3 LPV catalog,and classified them into oxygen-rich(O-rich)and carbon-rich(C-rich)AGB stars.Using the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer database,we determined the W1-and W2-band period-luminosity relations(PLRs)for each pulsation-mode sequence of AGB stars.The dispersion of the PLRs of O-rich AGB stars in sequences C'and C is relatively small,around 0.14 mag.The PLRs of LMC and SMC are consistent in each sequence.In the W2 band,the PLR of large-amplitude C-rich AGB stars is steeper than that of small-amplitude C-rich AGB stars,due to their more circumstellar dust.By two methods,we find that some PLR sequences of O-rich AGB stars in the LMC are dependent on metallicity.The coefficients of the metallicity effect areβ=-0.533±0.213 mag dex~1andβ=-0.767±0.158 mag dex~1for sequence C in W1 and W2 bands,respectively.The significance of the metallicity effect in W1 band for the four sequences is 2.2-3.5σ.Both of these imply that distance measurements using O-rich Mira may need to take the metallicity effect into account.

BSEC Method for Unveiling Open Clusters and its Application to Gaia DR3:83 New Clusters

Open clusters(OCs) are common in the Milky Way, but most of them remain undiscovered. There are numerous techniques, including some machine-learning algorithms, available for the exploration of OCs. However, each method has its limitations and therefore, different approaches to discovering OCs hold significant values. We develop a comprehensive approach method to automatically explore the data space and identify potential OC candidates with relatively reliable membership determination. This approach combines the techniques of Hierarchical Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise, Gaussian mixture model, and a novel cluster member identification technique, color excess constraint. The new method exhibits efficiency in detecting OCs while ensuring precise determination of cluster memberships. Because the main feature of this technique is to add an extra constraint(EC) for the members of cluster candidates using the homogeneity of color excess,compared to typical blind search codes, it is called Blind Search-Extra Constraint(BSEC) method. It is successfully applied to the Gaia Data Release 3, and 83 new OCs are found, whose color–magnitude diagrams(CMDs) are fitted well to the isochrones. In addition, this study reports 621 new OC candidates with discernible main sequence or red giant branch. It is shown that BSEC technique can discard some false negatives of previous works, which takes about three percentage of known clusters. It shows that as an EC, the color excess(or twocolor) constraint is useful for removing fake cluster member stars from the clusters that are identified from the positions and proper motions of stars, and getting more precise CMDs, when differential reddening of member stars of a cluster is not large(e.g., ΔE(G_(BP)-G_(RP)) < 0.5 mag). It makes the CMDs of 15% clusters clearer(in particular for the region near turnoff) and therefore is helpful for CMD and stellar population studies. Our result suggests that the color excess constraint is more appropriate for clusters with small differential reddening, such as globular clusters or older OCs, and clusters that the distances of member stars cannot be determined accurately.

GRB 200612A:An Ultralong Gamma-Ray Burst Powered by Magnetar Spinning Down

GRB 200612A could be classified as an ultralong gamma-ray burst due to its prompt emission lasting up to~1020 s and the true timescale of the central engine activity t_(burst)≥4×10^(4) s.The late X-ray light curve with a decay index ofα=7.53 is steeper than the steepest possible decay from an external shock model.We propose that this X-ray afterglow can be driven by dipolar radiation from the magnetar spindown during its early stage,while the magnetar collapsed into the black hole before its spindown,resulting in a very steep decay of the late X-ray light curve.The optical data show that the light curve is still rising after 1.1 ks,suggesting a late onset.We show that GRB 200612A’s optical afterglow light curve is fitted with the forward shock model by Gaussian structured off-axis jet.This is a special case among GRBs,as it may be an ultralong gamma-ray burst powered by a magnetar in an off-axis observation scenario.

Simulation Study on Constraining Gravitational Wave Propagation Speed by Gravitational Wave and Gamma-ray Burst Joint Observation on Binary Neutron Star Mergers

Theories of modified gravity suggest that the propagation speed of gravitational waves(GW)v_gmay deviate from the speed of light c.A constraint can be placed on the difference between c and v_gwith a simple method that uses the arrival time delay between GW and electromagnetic wave simultaneously emitted from a burst event.We simulated the joint observation of GW and short gamma-ray burst signals from binary neutron star merger events in different observation campaigns,involving advanced LIGO(aLIGO)in design sensitivity and Einstein Telescope(ET)joint-detected with Fermi/GBM.As a result,the relative precision of constraint on v_gcan reach~10~(-17)(aLIGO)and~10^(-18)(ET),which are one and two orders of magnitude better than that from GW170817,respectively.We continue to obtain the bound of graviton mass m_g≤7.1(3.2)×10~(-20)eV with aLIGO(ET).Applying the Standard-Model Extension test framework,the constraint on v_gallows us to study the Lorentz violation in the nondispersive,nonbirefringent limit of the gravitational sector.We obtain the constraints of the dimensionless isotropic coefficients S_(00)^(4)at mass dimension d=4,which are-1×10^(-15)<S_(00)^(4)<9×10^(-17)for aLIGO and-4×10^(-16)<s_(00)^(4<8<10^(-18))for ET.

GRB 210610B:The Internal and External Plateau as Evidence for the Delayed Outflow of Magnetar

After launching a jet,outflows of magnetar were used to account for the achromatic plateau of afterglow and the early X-ray flux plateau known as“internal plateau”.The lack of detecting magnetic dipole emission together with the energy injection feature in a single observation poses confusion until the long gamma-ray burst(GRB)210610B is detected.GRB 210610B is presented with an optical bump following an early X-ray plateau during the afterglow phase.The plateau followed by a steep decline flux overlays in the steadily decaying X-ray flux with indexα_(X,1)~2.06,indicating an internal origin and that can be fitted by the spin-down luminosity law with the initial plateau luminosity log_(10)L_(X)~48.29 erg s~(-1)and the characteristic spin-down timescale T~2818 s.A subsequent bump begins at~4000 s in the R band with a rising indexα_(R,1)~-0.30 and peaks at~14125 s,after which a decay indexα_(R,2)~0.87 and finally transiting to a steep decay withα_(R,3)~1.77 achieve the closure relation of the external shock for the normal decay phase as well as the magnetar spin-down energy injection phase,provided that the average value of the photon indexΓ_γ=1.80 derived from the spectral energy distributions(SEDs)between the X-ray and optical afterglow.The closure relation also works for the late X-ray flux.Akin to the traditional picture of GRB,the outflow powers the early X-ray plateau by dissipating energy internally and collides with the leading decelerating blast burst as time goes on,which could interpret the exotic feature of GRB 210610B.We carry out a Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulation and obtain a set of best parameters:■.The artificial light curve can fit the afterglow data well.After that,we estimated the average Lorentz factor and the X-ray radiation efficiency of the later ejecta are 35%and 0.13%,respectively.

A New Feature Vector Using Selected Line Spectra for Pulsar Signal Bispectrum Characteristic Analysis and Recognition

Average pulse profiles of pulsar signals are analyzed using the bispectrum technique. The result shows that there are nonlinear phase couplings between the two frequency axes of the bispectrum charts, which indicate nonlinear factors in the generation and propagation of pulsar signals. Bispectra can be used as feature vectors of pulsar signals because of their being translation invariant. A one-dimension selected line spectrum algorithm for extracting pulsar signal characteristic is proposed. Compared with selected bispectra, the proposed selected line spectra have the maximum interclass separability measurements from the point of view of the whole one-dimension feature vector. Recognition experiments on several pulsar signals received at several frequency bands are carried out. The result shows that the selected line spectrum algorithm is suitable for extracting pulsar signal characteristics and has a good classification performance.

On the distributions of pulsar glitch sizes and the inter-glitch time intervals

The glitch size,△ν/ν, inter-glitch time interval, ti, and frequency of glitches in pulsars are key parameters in discussing glitch phenomena. In this paper, the glitch sizes and inter-glitch time intervals are statistically analyzed in a sample of 168 pulsars with a total of 483 glitches. The glitches are broadly divided into two groups. Those with △ν/ν< 10^-7 are regarded as small size glitches, while those with△ν/ν≥ 10^-7 are considered as relatively large size glitches. In the ensemble of glitches, the distribution of△ν/ν is seen to be bimodal as usual. The distribution of inter-glitch time intervals is unimodal and the interglitch time intervals between small and large size glitches are not significantly different from each other.This observation shows that inter-glitch time intervals are size independent. In addition, the distribution of the ratio △ν/ν: tiin both small and large size glitches has the same pattern. This observation suggests that a parameter which depends on time, which could be the spin-down rate of a pulsar, plays a similar role in the processes that regulate both small and large size glitches. Equally, this could be an indication that a single physical mechanism, which could produce varying glitch sizes at similar time-intervals, could be responsible for both classes of glitch sizes.

Database of molecular masers and variable stars

We present the database of maser sources in H2 O, OH and Si O lines that can be used to identify and study variable stars at evolved stages. Detecting the maser emission in H2 O, OH and Si O molecules toward infrared-excess objects is one of the methods for identifing long-period variables(LPVs, including miras and semiregulars), because these stars exhibit maser activity in their circumstellar shells. Our sample contains 1803 known LPV objects. Forty-six percent of these stars(832 objects) manifest maser emission in the line of at least one molecule: H2 O, OH or Si O. We use the database of circumstellar masers in order to search for LPVs which are not included in the General Catalogue of Variable Stars(GCVS). Our database contains 4806 objects(3866 objects without associations in GCVS) with maser detection in at least one molecule. Therefore it is possible to use the database in order to locate and study the large sample of LPV stars. The database can be accessed at http://maserdb.net.

Variable binaries and variables in binaries in the Binary star DataBase

The Binary star DataBase(BDB, http://bdb.inasan.ru) combines data from catalogs of binary and multiple stars of all observational types. There is a number of ways for variable stars to form or to be a part of binary or multiple systems. We describe how such stars are represented in the database.

The Neutron Star to Black Hole Mass Gap in the Frame of the Jittering Jets Explosion Mechanism(JJEM)

I build a toy model in the frame of the jittering jets explosion mechanism(JJEM)of core collapse supernovae that incorporates both the stochastically varying angular momentum component of the material that the newly born neutron star(NS)accretes and the constant angular momentum component,and show that the JJEM can account for the≃2.5–5M⊙mass gap between NSs and black holes(BHs).The random component of the angular momentum results from pre-collapse core convection fluctuations that are amplified by post-collapse instabilities.The fixed angular momentum component results from pre-collapse core rotation.For slowly rotating pre-collapse cores the stochastic angular momentum fluctuations form intermittent accretion disks(or belts)around the NS with varying angular momentum axes in all directions.The intermittent accretion disk/belt launches jets in all directions that expel the core material in all directions early on,hence leaving an NS remnant.Rapidly rotating pre-collapse cores form an accretion disk with angular momentum axis that is about the same as the pre-collapse core rotation.The NS launches jets along this axis and hence the jets avoid the equatorial plane region.Inflowing core material continues to feed the central object from the equatorial plane increasing the NS mass to form a BH.The narrow transition from slow to rapid pre-collapse core rotation,i.e.,from an efficient to inefficient jet feedback mechanism,accounts for the sparsely populated mass gap.

Predicting Gravitational Waves from Jittering-jets-driven Core Collapse Supernovae

I estimate the frequencies of gravitational waves from jittering jets that explode core collapse supernovae(CCSNe)to crudely be 5–30 Hz,and with strains that might allow detection of Galactic CCSNe.The jittering jets explosion mechanism(JJEM)asserts that most CCSNe are exploded by jittering jets that the newly born neutron star(NS)launches within a few seconds.According to the JJEM,instabilities in the accreted gas lead to the formation of intermittent accretion disks that launch the jittering jets.Earlier studies that did not include jets calculated the gravitational frequencies that instabilities around the NS emit to have a peak in the crude frequency range of 100–2000Hz.Based on a recent study,I take the source of the gravitational waves of jittering jets to be the turbulent bubbles(cocoons)that the jets inflate as they interact with the outer layers of the core of the star at thousands of kilometers from the NS.The lower frequencies and larger strains than those of gravitational waves from instabilities in CCSNe allow future,and maybe present,detectors to identify the gravitational wave signals of jittering jets.Detection of gravitational waves from local CCSNe might distinguish between the neutrino-driven explosion mechanism and the JJEM.

Physical Parameters of W UMa Type Contact Binaries and Their Stability of Mass Transfer

In this study,we determined the physical parameters of W UMa type contact binaries and their stability of mass transfer with different stellar mass ranges over a broad space by applying the basic dynamical evolution equations of the W UMa type contact binaries using accretor and donor masses between 0.079 and 2.79 M_(⊙).In these systems,we have studied the three subclasses of W UMa systems of A-,B-and W-type contact binaries using the initial and final mass ranges and we investigated different stellar and orbital parameters for the subclasses of W UMa systems.We examined the stability of the W UMa type contact binaries using the orbital parameters such as critical mass ratio,Roche lobe radius of the donor star and mass ratio of these systems.Thus,we computed the observed and calculated physical parameters of A-,B-and W-type W UMa systems.Moreover,we determined the combined and color temperatures to classify the three subclasses of the systems.Also,we presented the result of the internal stellar structure and evolution of W UMa type contact binaries by using the polytropic model.

Reviving the stalled shock by jittering jets in core collapse supernovae: jets from the standing accretion shock instability

I present a scenario by which an accretion flow with alternating angular momentum on to a newly born neutron star in a core collapse supernova(CCSN) efficiently amplifies magnetic fields and by that launches jets.The accretion flow of a collapsing core on to the newly born neutron star suffers spiral standing accretion shock instability(SASI).This instability leads to a stochastically variable angular momentum of the accreted gas,which in turn forms an accretion flow with alternating directions of the angular momentum,and hence alternating shear,at any given time.I study the shear in this alternating-shear sub-Keplerian inflow in published simulations,and present a new comparison with Keplerian accretion disks.From that comparison I argue that it might be as efficient as Keplerian accretion disks in amplifying magnetic fields by a dynamo.I suggest that although the average specific angular momentum of the accretion flow is small,namely,sub-Keplerian,this alternating-shear accretion flow can launch jets with varying directions,namely,jittering jets.Neutrino heating is an important ingredient in further energizing the jets.The jittering jets locally revive the stalled accretion shock in the momentarily polar directions,and by that they explode the star.I repeat again my call for a paradigm shift from a neutrino-driven explosion of CCSNe to a jet-driven explosion mechanism that is aided by neutrino heating.

Variable Star Detection in the Field of Open Cluster NGC 188

This work presents the charge-coupled device(CCD)photometric survey of the old open cluster NGC 188.Timeseries V-band photometric observations were conducted for ten nights in 2017 January using the Nanshan Onemeter Wide-field Telescope to search for variable stars in the field of the cluster.A total of 25 variable stars,including one new variable star,were detected in the target field.Among the detected variables,16 are cluster member stars,and the others are identified as field stars.The periods,radial velocities,effective temperatures,and classifications of the detected variables are discussed in this work.Most of the stars’effective temperatures are between 4200 and 6600 K,indicating their spectral types are G or K.The newly discovered variable is probably a W UMa system.In this study,a known cluster variable star(V21=V0769 Cep)is classified as an EA-type variable star based on the presence of an 0.5 mag eclipse in its light curve.

Irregular changes in Hαemission line of V423 Aur observed by LAMOST Medium-Resolution Spectrographs

We obtained seven spectra of the Be star V423 Aur on 2017 Dec.5 using the LAMOST MediumResolution Spectrograph with exposures from 600 to 1200 seconds.These spectra show the irregular Ha emission line profile variations(LPVs).In the seven spectra,from the 4 th to 7 th,the left part of Ha profile even shows excess.However,no variation can be seen from the follow-up observation of photometry by 1.26-m telescope and High-Resolution spectra by 2.16-m telescope.According to the High-Resolution spectra,we conclude that it is a B7 V type star with E(B-V)=0.709±0.036 and its vsini is221.8 km s-1.The short-term Ha LPVs could be explained as a result of the transient ejection of matter from rotating disk or shell around V423 Aur.

The Variability and Radial Velocity of Planetary Nebula Central Stars

The extremely accurate estimates of stellar variability and radial velocity in the Gaia Data Release 3(Gaia DR3)have enabled us to examine the close binarity and radial velocity(RV)of central stars(CSs)of planetary nebulae(PNe).This study is twofold:(1)searching for new close binary CS candidates to better understand how binarity affects the formation and evolution of PNe;and(2)extending the sample size of known RVs of PNe in order to understand their kinematics and the dynamics of the Milky Way.As a target sample,we used all true,possible,and likely PNe available in the literature.Then,we looked for their matched Gaia DR3 sources that provide measurements of variability and RV.As a result,we detected the first large collection of trustworthy photometric variability of 26 symbiotic stars and 82 CSs.In this CS group,there are 24 sources already classified as true close binary CSs in the literature.Hence,we discovered 58 new close binary CS candidates.This close binary(CB)sample represents more than half of what is currently available in the literature.In addition,we identified the radial velocities for 51 PNe.To our knowledge,24 of these were measured for the first time.The RV measurements predicted by Gaia,based on the Doppler shift of the CS absorption lines,and those derived from nebular emission lines,show satisfactory agreement except for a few extremely high-velocity PNe.

Spin-down and emission variations for PSR J0742-2822

PSR J0742-2822 is known for its quasi-periodic changes in the observed pulse profile and spindown rate.In this paper,we analyzed 13 years of timing data obtained with the Nanshan 25-m radio telescope and the Parkes 64-m radio telescope.We found that the average values of the spin-down rate((v))of this pulsar changed in four different states.We investigated the correlation between v and W50,and ascertained that the correlation changed in different states.Moreover,not all the changes in states and correlation can be associated with glitch activities.We examined the long term evolution ofγ-ray flux(0.1-300 GeV)and the pulse profiles corresponding to the four different states using Fermi-LAT Pass8(P8 R3)data from 2008 August 5 to 2019 October 1.We did not detect a significant change inγ-ray flux or the pulse profile.Our results suggest that the connection between pulsar rotation and emission is more complex than previously reported for this pulsar.

Constraining the Parameterized Neutron Star Equation of State with Astronomical Observations

We utilize the phenomenologically parameterized piecewise polytropic equations of state to study various neutron star properties.We investigate the compliance of these equations of state with several astronomical observations.We also demonstrate that the theoretical estimates of the fractional moment of inertia cannot explain all the pulsar glitches observed.We model the crust as a solid spheroidal shell to calculate the fractional moment of inertia of fast-spinning neutron stars.We also show that the braking index obtained in a simple magnetic dipole radiation model with a varying moment of inertia deviates significantly from the observed data.Future developments in both theory and observations may allow us to use the fractional moment of inertia and braking index as observational constraints for neutron star equation of state.

Searching for Multiple Populations in Star Clusters Using the China Space Station Telescope

Multiple stellar populations(MPs) in most star clusters older than 2 Gyr, as seen by lots of spectroscopic and photometric studies, have led to a significant challenge to the traditional view of star formation. In this field, spacebased instruments, in particular the Hubble Space Telescope(HST), have made a breakthrough as they significantly improved the efficiency of detecting MPs in crowded stellar fields by images. The China Space Station Telescope(CSST) and the HST are sensitive to a similar wavelength interval, but the CSST covers a field of view which is about 5–8 times wider than that of HST. One of its instruments, the Multi-Channel Imager(MCI),will have multiple filters covering a wide wavelength range from NUV to NIR, making the CSST a potentially powerful tool for studying MPs in clusters. In this work, we evaluate the efficiency of the designed filters for the MCI/CSST in revealing MPs in different color–magnitude diagrams(CMDs). We find that CMDs made with MCI/CSST photometry in appropriate UV filters are powerful tools to disentangle stellar populations with different abundances of He, C, N, O and Mg. On the contrary, the traditional CMDs are blind to multiple populations in globular clusters(GCs). We show that CSST has the potential of being the spearhead instrument for investigating MPs in GCs in the next decades.

An RFI Mitigation Pipeline for CRAFTS Multi-beam Data Based on Signal Cross-Correlation Function and SumThreshold Algorithm

The increasing radio frequency interference(RFI)is a well-recognized problem in radio astronomy research.Pulsars and Fast Radio Bursts(FRBs)are high-priority science targets of the ongoing Commercial Radio Astronomy FAST Survey(CRAFTS).To improve the quality of RFI removal in searches of pulsars and FRBs based on CRAFTS multi-beam data,we here propose an intuitive but powerful RFI mitigation pipeline(CCF-ST).The“CCF-ST”is a spatial filter constructed by signal cross-correlation function(CCF)and Sum-Threshold(ST)algorithm.The RFI marking result is saved in a“mask”file,a binary format for RFI masks in PRESTO.Three known pulsars,PSR B0525-21,PSR B0621-04,and PSR J0943+2252 from CRAFTS L-band 19 beams data are used for evaluation of the performance of CCF-ST in comparison with other methods,such as PRESTO’s“rfifind”,ArPLS-ST and ArPLS-SF.The result shows that CCF-ST can reduce effective data loss rate and improves the detected signal-to-noise ratio of the pulsations by~26%and~18%respectively compared with PRESTO’s“rfifind”and ArPLS-ST.The CCF-ST also has the advantage of low computational cost,e.g.,reducing the time consumption by~40%and memory consumption by~90%compared with ArPLS-SF.We expect that the new RFI mitigation and analysis toolkit(CCF-ST)demonstrated in this paper can be applied to CRAFTS and other multi-beam telescope observations to improve the data quality and efficiency of pulsar and FRB searches.