On the Physical Processes in Contact Binary Systems

Three important physical processes occurring in contact binary systems are studied. The first one is the effect of spin, orbital rotation and tide on the structure of the components, which includes also the effect of meridian circulation on the mixing of the chemical elements in the components. The second one is the mass and energy exchange between the components. To describe the energy exchange, a new approach is introduced based on the understanding that the exchange is due to the release of the potential, kinetic and thermal energy of the exchanged mass. The third is the loss of mass and angular momentum through the outer Lagrangian point. The rate of mass loss and the angular momentum carded away by the lost mass are discussed. To show the effects of these processes, we follow the evolution of a binary system consisting of a 12M⊙ and a 5M⊙ star with mass exchange between the components and mass loss via the outer Lagrangian point, both with and without considering the effects of rotation and tide. The result shows that the effect of rotation and tide advances the start of the semi-detached and the contact phases, and delays the end of the hydrogen-burning phase of the primary. Furthermore, it can change not only the occurrence of mass and angular momentum loss via the outer Lagrangian point, but also the contact or semi-contact status of the system. Thus, this effect can result in the special phenomenon of short-term variations occurring over a slow increase of the orbital period. The occurrence of mass and angular momentum loss via the outer Lagrangian point can affect the orbital period of the system significantly, but this process can be influenced, even suppressed out by the effect of rotation and tide. The mass and energy exchange occurs in the common envelope. The net result of the mass exchange process is a mass transfer from the primary to the secondary during the whole contact phase.

The Fifth Edition of the General Catalogue of Variable Stars:experiences in the constellation Centaurus

We have recently announced that the General Catalogue of Variable Stars enters the stage of its fifth, purely electronic edition （GCVS 5.1）. We have included 1408 variable stars in the constellation Centaurus in this new version, GCVS 5.1. Working on this revision, we applied current possibilities from data mining, suggested new variability types for many variable stars and found new light elements for a large number of periodic variables. This paper describes the work completed during the preparation of GCVS 5.1 for Centaurus and discusses in detail a number of the most astrophysically significant cases.

A Study of Magnetized White Dwarf+Helium Star Binary Evolution to Type Ia Supernovae

The white dwarf(WD)+helium(He)star binary channel plays an important role in the single degenerate scenario for the progenitors of type Ia supernovae(SNe Ia).Previous studies on the WD+main sequence star evolution have shown that the magnetic fields of WDs may significantly influence their accretion and nuclear burning processes.In this work we focus on the evolution of magnetized WD+He star binaries with detailed stellar evolution and binary population synthesis(BPS)calculations.In the case of magnetized WDs,the magnetic fields may disrupt the inner regions of the accretion disk,funnel the accretion flow onto the polar caps and even confine helium burning within the caps.We find that,for WDs with sufficiently strong magnetic fields,the parameter space of the potential SN Ia progenitor systems shrinks toward shorter orbital periods and lower donor masses compared with that in the non-magnetized WD case.The reason is that the magnetic confinement usually works with relatively high mass transfer rates,which can trigger strong wind mass loss from the WD,thus limiting the He-rich mass accumulation efficiency.The surviving companion stars are likely of low-mass at the moment of the SN explosions,which can be regarded as a possible explanation for the non-detection of surviving companions after the SNe or inside the SN remnants.However,the corresponding birthrate of Galactic SNe Ia in our high-magnetic models is estimated to be~(0.08–0.13)×10^(-3)yr^(-1)(~0.17–0.28×10^(-3)yr^(-1)for the non-magnetic models),significantly lower than the observed Galactic SN Ia birthrate.

The fractions of post-binary-interaction stars and evolved blue straggler stars on the red giant branch of globular clusters

The red giant branch(RGB)of globular clusters(GCs)is home to some exotic stars,which may provide clues on the formation of multiple stellar populations in GCs.It is well known that binary interactions are responsible for many exotic stars.Thus,it is important to understand what fraction of stars on the RGB of GCs is the result of binary interactions.In this paper,we performed a binary population synthesis study to track the number of post-binary-interaction(post-BI)stars that appear on the RGB,with particular emphasis on the evolved blue straggler stars(E-BSSs).Assuming an initial binary fraction of nearly 50%,we find that about half of the objects on the RGB(called giants)underwent the binary interactions,and that E-BSSs account for around 10%of the giants in our standard simulation.We also compare the properties of post-BI giants that evolved from different channels.We find that the initial orbital period and mass ratio distributions significantly affect the fraction of post-BI giants.Our results imply that the non-standard stars from binary interactions provide a non-negligible contribution to the RGB stars in GCs,which should be considered in future investigations of the origin of multiple stellar populations.

Investigation of the shortest period Am type eclipsing binary TYC 6408–989–1

The first BV bands photometric observations and the low-resolution spectrum of the shortest period Am type eclipsing binary TYC 6408-989-1 have been obtained.The stellar atmospheric parameters of the primary star were obtained through the spectral fitting as follows:Teff=6990±117 K,log g=4.25±0.26 cm s^(-2),[Fe/H]=-0.45±0.03 dex.The original spectra obtained by European Southern Observatory(ESO)were processed with an IRAF package by us.Based on the ESO blue-violet spectra,TYC 6408-989-1 was concluded as a marginal Am(Am:)star with a spectral type of kA3 hF1 mA5Ⅳ-Ⅴidentified through the MKCLASS program.The observed light curves were analyzed through the WilsonDevinney code.The final photometric solutions show that TYC 6408-989-1 is a marginal contact binary with a low mass ratio(q=0.27).The temperature of the secondary component derived through the light curve analysis is significantly higher than main sequence stars.In addition,TYC 6408-989-1 is a poor thermal contact binary.The temperature differences between the two components is about 1800 K.TYC6408-989-1 should be located in the oscillation stage predicted by the thermal relaxation oscillations theory(TRO)and will evolve into the shallow contact stage eventually.The very short period(less than one day),marginal Am peculiarity and quite large rotational velocity(v sin i■160 km s^(-1))make TYC 6408-989-1 become a challenge to the cut-off of rotation velocities and periods of Am stars.We have collected the well known eclipsing Am binaries with absolute parameters from the literature.

Study of 26 Galactic Open Clusters with Extended Main-sequence Turnoffs

Recent studies indicate that some Galactic open clusters(OCs)exhibit extended main-sequence turnoff(eMSTO)in their color–magnitude diagrams(CMDs).However,the number of Galactic OCs with eMSTO structures detected so far is limited,and the reasons for their formation are still unclear.This work identifies 26 Galactic OCs with undiscovered eMSTOs and investigates the causes of these features.Stellar population types and fundamental parameters of cluster samples are acquired using CMD fitting methods.Among them,the results of 11 OCs are reliable as the observed CMDs are well-reproduced.We propose the crucial role of stellar binarity and confirm the importance of stellar rotation in reproducing eMSTO morphologies.The results also show that the impact of age spread is important,as it can adequately explain the structure of young OCs and fit the observed CMDs of intermediate-age OCs better.

A diagnostic of the orbital spectrum of LS 5039 with Fermi-LAT

LS 5039 is a well-known γ-ray binary system which consists of an unknown compact object and a massive companion O star. It shows rather stable emissions at high energies over years and hence serves as an ideal laboratory to investigate the emission mechanism for such peculiar systems which emit prominent γ-rays. To this end, we take the orbital phase resolved energy spectrum as observed by Fermi-LAT over 10 years. We divide the orbit into four orbital phases, each with an orbital phase range of 0.25,centered at 0.00, 0.25, 0.50 and 0.75 respectively, where the phase 0.0 is the periastron and phase 0.5 is the apastron. The phases around 0.25 and 0.75 are symmetric and hence are supposed to have identical local acceleration environment. The spectral analysis shows that the Fermi-LAT spectra are largely different from these two symmetric orbital phases: the emission from orbital phase 0.25 turns out to be significantly stronger than that from 0.75. This result does not fit a scenario that γ-rays are Doppler boosted emission from bow shock tails if LS 5039 has a shock configuration similar to PSR B1259-63, and indicates that the inverse Compton scatterings between the shock accelerated plasma and the stellar particle environment is the underline procedure. We also find that the previous report for a disappearance of the orbital modulation at 3–20 GeV is due to the similar spectral turn-over energies of the different orbital phases. The spectral properties of periastron and apastron regions are addressed in the context of the measurements in phase regions around 0.25 and 0.75.

Pulsar timing residuals due to individual non-evolving gravitational wave sources

The pulsar timing residuals induced by gravitational waves from non- evolving single binary sources are affected by many parameters related to the relative positions of the pulsar and the gravitational wave sources. We will analyze the various effects due to different parameters. The standard deviations of the timing residuals will be calculated with a variable parameter fixing a set of other parameters. The or- bits of the binary sources will be generally assumed to be elliptical. The influences of different eccentricities on the pulsar timing residuals will also be studied in detail. We find that the effects of the related parameters are quite different, and some of them display certain regularities.

Searching for Variable Stars in the Field of NGC 7789

We present the results of a time-series CCD photometric survey of variable stars in the field of the open cluster NGC 7789. In a field of about one degree centering on the cluster, a total of 28 new variable stars are discovered (14 W UMa systems, nine EA-type eclipsing binaries, one RR Lyr star, and four unclassified). In addition, we recovered 11 old variables previously discovered by other authors. Preliminary parameters are given for some of these variables.

Forming different planetary systems

With the increasing number of detected exoplanet samples, the statistical properties of planetary systems have become much clearer. In this review, we sum- marize the major statistical results that have been revealed mainly by radial velocity and transiting observations, and try to interpret them within the scope of the classical core-accretion scenario of planet formation, especially in the formation of different orbital architectures for planetary systems around main sequence stars. Based on the different possible formation routes for different planet systems, we tentatively classify them into three major catalogs： hot Jupiter systems, standard systems and distant giant planet systems. The standard systems can be further categorized into three sub-types under different circumstances： solar-like systems, hot Super-Earth systems, and sub- giant planet systems. We also review the theory of planet detection and formation in binary systems as well as planets in star clusters.

Mass-accreting white dwarfs and type Ia supernovae

Type Ia supernovae（SNe Ia） play a prominent role in understanding the evolution of the Universe. They are thought to be thermonuclear explosions of mass-accreting carbon-oxygen white dwarfs（CO WDs） in binaries, although the mass donors of the accreting WDs are still not well determined. In this article, I review recent studies on mass-accreting WDs, including H-and He-accreting WDs. I also review currently most studied progenitor models of SNe Ia, i.e., the single-degenerate model（including the WD＋MS channel, the WD＋RG channel and the WD＋He star channel）, the doubledegenerate model（including the violent merger scenario） and the sub-Chandrasekhar mass model.Recent progress on these progenitor models is discussed, including the initial parameter space for producing SNe Ia, the binary evolutionary paths to SNe Ia, the progenitor candidates for SNe Ia, the possible surviving companion stars of SNe Ia, some observational constraints, etc. Some other potential progenitor models of SNe Ia are also summarized, including the hybrid CONe WD model, the core-degenerate model, the double WD collision model, the spin-up/spin-down model and the model of WDs near black holes. To date, it seems that two or more progenitor models are needed to explain the observed diversity among SNe Ia.

The GeV emission of PSR B1259–63 during its last three periastron passages observed by Fermi-LAT

PSR B1259–63 is a γ-ray emitting high mass X-ray binary system, in which the compact object is a millisecond pulsar.The system has an orbital period of 1236.7 d and shows peculiar γ-ray flares when the neutron star moves out of the stellar disk of the companion star.The γ-ray flare events were firstly discovered by using Fermi-LAT around the 2010 periastron passage, which was repeated for the 2014 and 2017 periastron passages.We analyze the Fermi-LAT data for all the three periastron passages and found that in each flare the energy spectrum can be represented well by a simple power law.The γ-ray light curves show that in 2010 and 2014 after each periastron there are two main flares,but in 2017 there are four flares including one precursor about 10 d after the periastron passage.The first main flares in 2010 and 2014 are located at around 35 d after the periastron passage, and the main flare in 2014 is delayed by roughly 1.7 d with respect to that in 2010.In the 2017 flare, the source shows a precursor about 10 d after the periastron passage, but the following two flares become weaker and lag behind those in 2010 by roughly 5 d.The strongest flares in 2017 occurred 58 d and 70 d after the periastron passage.These results challenge the previous models.

LAMOST Time-Domain survey:first results of four K2 plates

From Oct.2019 to Apr.2020,LAMOST performed a time-domain(TD)spectroscopic survey of four K2 plates with both low-and medium-resolution observations.The low-resolution spectroscopic survey acquired 282 exposures(≈46.6 h)over 25 nights,yielding a total of about 767000 spectra,and the medium-resolution survey took 177 exposures(≈49.1 h)over 27 nights,collecting about 478000 spectra.More than 70%/50%of low-resolution/medium-resolution spectra have signal-to-noise ratio higher than 10.We determine stellar parameters(e.g.,Teff,log g,[Fe/H])and radial velocity(RV)with different methods,including LASP,DD-Payne and SLAM.In general,these parameter estimations from different methods show good agreement,and the stellar parameter values are consistent with those of APOGEE.We use the Gaia DR2 RV values to calculate a median RV zero point(RVZP)for each spectrograph exposure by exposure,and the RVZP-corrected RVs agree well with the APOGEE data.The stellar evolutionary and spectroscopic masses are estimated based on the stellar parameters,multi-band magnitudes,distances and extinction values.Finally,we construct a binary catalog including about 2700 candidates by analyzing their light curves,fitting the RV data,calculating the binarity parameters from medium-resolution spectra and cross-matching the spatially resolved binary catalog from Gaia EDR3.The LAMOST TD survey is expected to represent a breakthrough in various scientific topics,such as binary systems,stellar activity,stellar pulsation,etc.

An Update of the Catalog of Radial Velocity Standard Stars from the APOGEE DR17

We present an updated catalog of 46,753 radial velocity(RV)standard stars selected from the APOGEE DR17.These stars cover the Northern and Southern Hemispheres almost evenly,with 62%being red giants and 38%being main sequence stars.These RV standard stars are stable on a baseline longer than 200 days(with 54%longer than one year and 10%longer than five years)with a median stability better than 215 m s~(-1).The average number of observations of those stars is 5 and each observation is required to have signal-to-noise ratio greater than50 and RV measurement error smaller than 500 m s~(-1).Based on the new APOGEE RV standard star catalog,we have checked the RV zero-points(RVZPs)for current large-scale stellar spectroscopic surveys including RAVE,LAMOST,GALAH and Gaia.By careful analysis,we estimate their mean RVZP to be+0.149 kms~(-1),+4.574 km s~(-1)(for LRS),-0.031 km s~(-1)and+0.014 kms~(-1),respectively,for the four surveys.In the RAVE,LAMOST(for MRS),GALAH and Gaia surveys,RVZP exhibits a systematic trend with stellar parameters(mainly[Fe/H],T_(eff),log g,G_(BP)-G_(RP)and G_(RVS)).The corrections to those small but clear RVZPs are of vital importance for these massive spectroscopic surveys in various studies that require extremely high RV accuracies.

Spatially Resolved Properties of the GW170817 Host Galaxy

GW170817 is the unique gravitational-wave(GW)event associated with the electromagnetic(EM)counterpart GRB 170817A.NGC 4993 is identified as the host galaxy of GW170817/GRB 170817A.In this paper,we focus on the spatially resolved properties of NGC 4993.We present the photometric results from the comprehensive data analysis of the high spatial-resolution images in the different optical bands.The morphological analysis reveals that NGC 4993 is a typical early-type galaxy without significant remnants of a major galaxy merger.The spatially resolved stellar population properties of NGC 4993 suggest that the galaxy center has passive evolution with the outskirt formed by gas accretion.We derive the merging rate of the compact object per galaxy by a co-evolution scenario of a supermassive black hole and its host galaxy.If the galaxy formation is at redshift 1.0,the merging rate per galaxy is from 3.2×10^(-4)to 7.7×10^(-5)within the merging decay time from 1.0 to 5.0 Gyr.The results provide vital information for ongoing GW EM counterpart detections.The Hubble space telescope data analysis presented in this paper can be also applied to Chinese Space Station Telescope research in the future.

Investigating the UV-excess in Star Clusters with N-body Simulations:Predictions for Future CSST Observations

We study the origin of the UV-excess in star clusters by performing N-body simulations of six clusters with N = 10 k and N = 100 k(single stars & binary systems) and metallicities of Z = 0.01, 0.001 and 0.0001, using PETAR. All models initially have a 50% primordial binary fraction. Using Galev NB we convert the simulated data into synthetic spectra and photometry for the China Space Station Telescope(CSST) and Hubble Space Telescope(HST). From the spectral energy distributions we identify three stellar populations that contribute to the UVexcess:(1) second asymptotic giant branch stars, which contribute to the UV flux at early times;(2) naked helium stars and(3) white dwarfs, which are long-term contributors to the FUV spectra. Binary stars consisting of a white dwarf and a main sequence star are cataclysmic variable(CV) candidates. The magnitude distribution of CV candidates is bimodal up to 2 Gyr. The bright CV population is particularly bright in FUV-NUV. The FUV-NUV color of our model clusters is 1–2 mag redder than the UV-excess globular clusters in M87 and in the Milky Way. This discrepancy may be induced by helium enrichment in observed clusters. Our simulations are based on simple stellar evolution;we do not include the effects of variations in helium and light elements or multiple stellar populations. A positive radial color gradient is present in CSST NUV-y for main sequence stars in all models with a color difference of 0.2–0.5 mag, up to 4 half-mass radii. The CSST NUV-g color correlates strongly with HST FUV-NUV for NUV-g > 1 mag, with the linear relation FUV-NUV =(1.09 ± 0.12) ×(NUV-g) +(-1.01 ± 0.22). This allows for conversion of future CSST NUV-g colors into HST FUV-NUV colors, which are sensitive to UV-excess features. We find that CSST will be able to detect UVexcess in Galactic/extragalactic star clusters with ages >200 Myr.

A database of spectral energy distributions of progenitors of core-collapse supernovae

This paper presents a database of the spectroscopic-and photometric-spectral energy distributions(spec-SEDs and phot-SEDs respectively)of the progenitors of core-collapse supernovae(CCSNe).Both binary-and single-star progenitors are included in the database.The database covers the initial metallicity(Z)range of 0.0001-0.03,mass range of 8-25 M⊙,binary mass ratio range of 0-1,and orbital period range of 0.1-10000 d.The low-resolution spec-SEDs and phot-SEDs of single-and binary-star CCSN progenitors are included in the database.These data can be used for studying the basic parameters,e.g.,metallicity,age,and initial and final masses of CCSN progenitors.It can also be used for studying the effects of different factors on the determination of parameters of CCSN progenitors.When the database is utilized for fitting the SEDs of binary-star CCSN progenitors,it is strongly suggested to determine the metallicity and orbital period in advance,but this is not necessary for single-star progenitors.

On the Neutron Star/Black Hole Mass Gap and Black Hole Searches

Mass distribution of black holes in low-mass X-ray binaries previously suggested the existence of a ~2–5 M⊙mass gap between the most massive neutron stars and the least massive black holes, while some recent evidence appears to support that this mass gap is being populated. Whether there is a mass gap or not can potentially shed light on the physics of supernova explosions that form neutron stars and black holes, although significant mass accretion of neutron stars including binary mergers may lead to the formation of mass-gap objects. In this review, I collect the compact objects that are probable black holes with masses being in the gap. Most of them are in binaries, their mass measurements are obviously subject to some uncertainties. Current observations are still unable to confidently infer an absence or presence of the mass gap. Ongoing and future surveys are expected to build the mass spectrum of black holes which can be used to constrain the process of their formation especially in binaries. I describe the theoretical predictions for the formation of black holes in various types of binaries, and present some prospects of searching for black holes via electromagnetic and gravitational wave observations.

The Role of Jets in Exploding Supernovae and in Shaping their Remnants

I review studies of core collapse supernovae(CCSNe) and similar transient events that attribute major roles to jets in powering most CCSNe and in shaping their ejecta. I start with reviewing the jittering jets explosion mechanism that I take to power most CCSN explosions. Neutrino heating does play a role in boosting the jets. I compare the morphologies of some CCSN remnants to planetary nebulae to conclude that jets and instabilities are behind the shaping of their ejecta. I then discuss CCSNe that are descendants of rapidly rotating collapsing cores that result in fixed-axis jets(with small jittering) that shape bipolar ejecta. A large fraction of the bipolar CCSNe are superluminous supernovae(SLSNe). I conclude that modeling of SLSN light curves and bumps in the light curves must include jets, even when considering energetic magnetars and/or ejecta interaction with the circumstellar matter(CSM). I connect the properties of bipolar CCSNe to common envelope jets supernovae(CEJSNe) where an old neutron star or a black hole spirals-in inside the envelope and then inside the core of a red supergiant. I discuss how jets can shape the pre-explosion CSM, as in Supernova 1987A, and can power pre-explosion outbursts(precursors)in binary system progenitors of CCSNe and CEJSNe. Binary interaction also facilitates the launching of postexplosion jets.

The kilosecond variability of X-ray sources in nearby galaxies

Chandra observations of 17 nearby galaxies were analyzed and 166 bright sources with X-ray counts 〉 100 were chosen for temporal analysis. Fractional root mean square （rms） variability amplitudes were estimated for light curves, binned at 4 kilosecond （ks）, with length 〈 40 ks. While there are nine ultra-luminous X- ray sources （ULXs） with unabsorbed luminosity （in the 0.3-8.0 keV band） L 〉 1039 erg s-1 in the sample for which the fractional rms variability is constrained to be 〈 10%, only two of them show variability. One of the variable ULXs exhibits a secular transition and has an ultra-soft spectrum with temperature - 0.3 keV while the other is a rapidly varying source in NGC 0628, which has previously been com- pared to the Galactic microquasar GRS 1915＋105. These results seem to indicate that ULXs are typically not highly variable on ks timescales, except for some ultra-soft ones. Among the relatively low luminosity sources （L - 10^38 erg s-1）, we find five of them to be variable. Apart from an earlier known source in NGC 1569, we identify a source in NGC 2403 that exhibits persistent high amplitude fluctuations. In general, the variability of the sources does not seem to be correlated with hardness, which indicates that they may not be due to variations in any absorbing material, but instead could reflect instabilities in the inner accretion disk.