Close Major-merger Pairs at z=0: Star-forming Galaxies with Pseudobulges

We present a study of star-forming galaxies (SFGs) with pseudobulges (bulges with Sérsic index n<2) in a loca close major-merger galaxy pair sample (H-KPAIR).With data from new aperture photometries in the optical and near-infrared bands (aperture size of 7 kpc) and from the literature,we find that the mean Age of central stellar populations in Spirals with pseudobulges is consistent with that of disky galaxies and is nearly constant against the bulge-to-total ratio (B/T).Paired Spirals have a slightly lower fraction of pure disk galaxies (B/T≤0.1) than their counterparts in the control sample.Compared to SFGs with classical bulges,those with pseudobulges have a higher (>2σ) mean of specific star formation rate (sSFR) enhancement (sSFR_(enh)=0.33±0.07 versus sSFR_(enh)=0.12±0.06) and broader scatter (by~1 dex).The eight SFGs that have the highest sSFR_(enh)in the sample all have pseudobulges.A majority (69%) of paired SFGs with strong enhancement (having sSFR more than5 times the median of the control galaxies) have pseudobulges.The Spitzer data show that the pseudobulges in these galaxies are tightly linked to nuclear/circum-nuclear starbursts.Pseudobulge SFGs in S+S and in S+E pairs have significantly (>3σ) different sSFR enhancement,with the means of sSFR_(enh)=0.45±0.08 and-0.04±0.11respectively.We find a decrease in the sSFR enhancements with the density of the environment for SFGs with pseudobulges.Since a high fraction (5/11) of pseudobulge SFGs in S+E pairs are in rich groups/clusters (loca density N_(1Mpc)≥7),the dense environment might be the cause for their low s SFR_(enh).

The electrical design of a membrane antenna for a lunar-based low-frequency radio telescope

Detecting primordial fluctuations from the cosmic dark ages requires extremely large low-frequency radio telescope arrays deployed on the far side of the Moon.The antenna of such an array must be lightweight,easily storable and transportable,deployable on a large scale,durable,and capable of good electrical performance.A membrane antenna is an excellent candidate to meet these criteria.We study the design of a low-frequency membrane antenna for a lunar-based low-frequency(<30 MHz)radio telescope constructed from polyimide film widely used in aerospace applications,owing to its excellent dielectric properties and high stability as a substrate material.We first design and optimize an antenna in free space through dipole deformation and coupling principles,then simulate an antenna on the lunar surface with a simple lunar soil model,yielding an efficiency greater than 90%in the range of 12-19 MHz and greater than 10%in the range of 5-35 MHz.The antenna inherits the omni-directional radiation pattern of a simple dipole antenna in the 5-30 MHz frequency band,giving a large field of view and allowing detection of the 21 cm global signal when used alone.A demonstration prototype is constructed,and its measured electrical property is found to be consistent with simulated results using|S11|measurements.This membrane antenna can potentially fulfill the requirements of a lunar low-frequency array,establishing a solid technical foundation for future large-scale arrays for exploring the cosmic dark ages.

The ALMA-QUARKS Survey.Ⅱ.The ACA 1.3 mm Continuum Source Catalog and the Assembly of Dense Gas in Massive Star-Forming Clumps

Leveraging the high resolution,sensitivity,and wide frequency coverage of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array(ALMA),the QUARKS survey,standing for“Querying Underlying mechanisms of massive star formation with ALMA-Resolved gas Kinematics and Structures”,is observing 139 massive starforming clumps at ALMA Band 6(λ~1.3 mm).This paper introduces the Atacama Compact Array(ACA)7 m data of the QUARKS survey,describing the ACA observations and data reduction.Combining multiwavelength data,we provide the first edition of QUARKS atlas,offering insights into the multiscale and multiphase interstellar medium in high-mass star formation.The ACA 1.3 mm catalog includes 207 continuum sources that are called ACA sources.Their gas kinetic temperatures are estimated using three formaldehyde transitions with a non-LTE radiation transfer model,and the mass and density are derived from a dust emission model.The ACA sources are massive(16–84 percentile values of 6–160 M_(⊙)),gravity-dominated(M∝R^(1.1))fragments within massive clumps,with supersonic turbulence(M>1)and embedded star-forming protoclusters.We find a linear correlation between the masses of the fragments and the massive clumps,with a ratio of 6%between the two.When considering fragments as representative of dense gas,the ratio indicates a dense gas fraction(DGF)of 6%,although with a wide scatter ranging from 1%to 10%.If we consider the QUARKS massive clumps to be what is observed at various scales,then the size-independent DGF indicates a self-similar fragmentation or collapsing mode in protocluster formation.With the ACA data over four orders of magnitude of luminosity-to-mass ratio(L/M),we find that the DGF increases significantly with L/M,which indicates clump evolutionary stage.We observed a limited fragmentation at the subclump scale,which can be explained by a dynamic global collapse process.

In Search for Infall Gas in Molecular Clouds:A Catalogue of CO Blue-Profiles

We have started a systematic survey of molecular clumps with infall motions to study the very early phase of star formation.Our first step is to utilize the data products by MWISP to make an unbiased survey for blue asymmetric line profiles of CO isotopical molecules.Within a total area of~2400 square degrees nearby the Galactic plane,we have found 3533 candidates showing blue-profiles,in which 3329 are selected from the^(12)CO&^(13)CO pair and 204 are from the^(13)CO&C^(18)O pair.Exploration of the parametric spaces suggests our samples are in the cold phase with relatively high column densities ready for star formation.Analysis of the spatial distribution of our samples suggests that they exist virtually in all major components of the galaxy.The vertical distribution suggest that the sources are located mainly in the thick disk of~85 pc,but still a small part are located far beyond Galactic midplane.Our follow-up observation indicates that these candidates are a good sample to start a search for infall motions,and to study the condition of very early phase of star formation.

Detection of TiO and VO in the Atmosphere of WASP-121b and Evidence For its Temporal Variation

We report the transit observations of the ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-121b using the Goodman High Throughput Spectrograph at the 4 m ground-based Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope,covering the wavelength range502-900 nm.By dividing the target and reference star into 19 spectroscopic passbands and applying differential spectrophotometry,we derive spectroscopic transit light curves and fit them using a Gaussian process framework to determine transit depths for every passband.The obtained optical transmission spectrum shows a steep increased slope toward the blue wavelength,which seems to be too steep to be accounted for by Rayleigh scattering alone.We note that the transmission spectrum from this work and other works differ obviously from each other,which was pointed out previously by Wilson et al.as evidence for temporal atmospheric variation.We perform a free chemistry retrieval analysis on the optical transmission spectra from this work and the literature HST/WFC3 NIR spectrum.We determine TiO,VO and H_(2)O with abundances of-5.95_(-0.42)^(+0.47)dex,-6.72_(-1.79)^(+0.51)dex and-4.13_(-0.46)^(+0.63)dex,respectively.We compare the abundances of all three of these molecules derived from this work and previous works,and find that they are not consistent with each other,indicating the chemical compositions of the terminator region may change over long timescales.Future multi-epoch and high-precision transit observations are required to further confirm this phenomenon.We note that when combining the transmission spectra in the optical and in NIR in retrieval analysis,the abundances of V and VO,the NIR-to-optical offset and the cloud deck pressure may be coupled with each other.

Localization Method for the Pointing Observation with the Collimated Telescopes of Insight-HXMT

An accurate target source position is sometimes useful for the pointing observation with the collimated telescopes of the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope(Insight-HXMT),which is determined by the reliability of the instrumental response.Insight-HXMT has the unique design that all three main payloads(LE,ME and HE)consist of detector groups with three fields of views(FOVs)whose orientations differ by 60°.As the point-spread functions are different at different positions in the FOV coordinates,the count rate ratios between the detector groups depend on the position of an X-ray source in the FOVs.Based on the multi-FOV design,we develop a localization method for an X-ray source in the pointing observation of Insight-HXMT.The accuracy of the method is investigated with the pointing observations of the Crab with different exposures.We find that the statistical error decreases with the exposure,and the systematic error is dominant for the exposure>128 s.With the exposure of1024 s,the total error is 0°.015 for the Crab.This method can effectively distinguish the Rapid Burster H 1730–333and Slow Burster GX 354–0,which are only 0°.5 apart and can both contribute to bursts in the light curve obtained by Insight-HXMT.We also apply the pointing observation localization method to locate the X-ray counterpart of FRB 200428 with high precision.The located position is consistent with SGR J1935+2154 within 1σuncertainty of 10′,which provides important evidence that fast radio bursts can originate from magnetars.

WISE Infrared Search for Young Stellar Objects Associated with Starless Cores

This study presents the results of an infrared search of young stellar objects (YSOs) associated with cores with high optical extinction and no associated infrared IRAS source. Four hundred YSO candidates were identified in the WISE photometric catalog based on the infrared excess attributed to the circumstellar materials and proto-planetary disks. One-hundred and forty-nine cores do not have YSO candidates. Whereas, 32 cores harbor only Class I candidates and 107 cores have Class II candidates. Ninety-one cores that were previously identified as starless cores, were found to contain YSOs. The ratio of the number of starless cores to the number of star-forming cores suggests that the typical timescale from molecular cloud core formation to the birth of a star is in the range of 0.5 - 1.4 Myr.

Analysis of Bright Source Hardness Ratios in the 4 yr Insight-HXMT Galactic Plane Scanning Survey Catalog

We conduct a statistical analysis of the hardness ratio(HR)for bright sources in the 4 yr Galactic Plane Scanning Survey catalog of Insight-HXMT.Depending on the stable(variable)flux F_(s)(F_(v))or spectrum S_(s)(S_(v))of each source,the bright sources are classified into three groups:F_(v)&S_(v),F_(v)&S_(s),and F_(s)&_(s).Our study of the HR characteristics in different types of sources reveals that accretion-powered neutron star(NS)low-mass X-ray binaries(LMXBs)exhibit softer energy spectra than NS high-mass X-ray binaries(HMXBs),but harder energy spectra than black hole binaries in most cases.This difference is probably due to their different magnetic field strengths.Additionally,Fv&Sv LMXBs tend to be harder than Fv&Ss LMXBs below 7 keV,while the opposite is true for HMXBs.Our results suggest that LMXBs may dominate unclassified sources,and NS binaries are likely to be the primary type of X-ray binaries with ambiguous compact stars.By comparing the HR of transient sources in their outburst and low-flux states,it is found that the averaged HR of four sources in the two states are roughly comparable within uncertainties.We also investigate the spatial properties of the three groups and find that Fv&Sv sources are mainly located in the longitude of-20°<l<9°,Fv&Ss sources cross the Galactic Plane,and Fs&Ss sources are predominantly concentrated in 19°<l<42°.In addition,analyzing the HR spatial distributions shows the absorption of soft X-rays(primarily below 2 keV)in the Galactic Plane.

The Precursor of GRB211211A:A Tide-induced Giant Quake?

The equilibrium configuration of a solid strange star in the final inspiral phase with another compact object is generally discussed,and the starquake-related issue is revisited,for a special purpose to understand the precursor emission of binary compact star merger events(e.g.,that of GRB211211A).As the binary system inspirals inward due to gravitational wave radiation,the ellipticity of the solid strangeon star increases due to the growing tidal field of its compact companion.Elastic energy is hence accumulated during the inspiral stage which might trigger a starquake before the merger when the energy exceeds a critical value.The energy released during such starquakes is calculated and compared to the precursor observation of GRB211211 A.The result shows that the energy might be insufficient for binary strangeon-star case unless the entire solid strangeon star shatters,and hence favors a black hole-strangeon star scenario for GRB211211A.The timescale of the precursor as well as the frequency of the observed quasi-periodic-oscillation have also been discussed in the starquake model.

A Fermi-LAT Study of Globular Cluster Dynamical Evolution in the Milky Way:Millisecond Pulsars as the Probe

Using archival Fermi-LAT data with a time span of~12 yr,we study the population of Millisecond Pulsars(MSPs)in Globular Clusters(GlCs)and investigate their dependence on cluster dynamical evolution in the Milky Way.We show that theγ-ray luminosity(L_(γ))and emissivity(i.e.,ε_(γ)=L_(γ)/M,with M the cluster mass)are good indicators of the population and abundance of MSPs in GlCs,and they are highly dependent on the dynamical evolution history of the host clusters.Specifically speaking,the dynamically older GlCs with more compact structures are more likely to have larger L_(γ)andε_(γ),and these trends can be summarized as strong correlations with cluster stellar encounter rateΓand the specific encounter rate(Λ=Γ/M),with L_(γ)∝Γ^(0.7±0.11)andε_(γ)∝Λ^(0.73±0.13)for dynamically normal GlCs.However,as GlCs evolve into deep core collapse,these trends are found to be reversed,implying that strong encounters may have lead to the disruption of Low-Mass X-ray Binaries and ejection of MSPs from core-collapsed systems.Besides,the GlCs are found to exhibit largerε_(γ)with increasing stellar mass function slope(ε_(γ)∝10^((0.52±0.1)α)),decreasing tidal radius(ε_(γ)∝R_(t)^(-10±0.22))and distances from the Galactic Center(GC,ε_(γ)∝R_(gc)^(-1.13±0.21)).These correlations indicate that,as GlCs losing kinetic energy and spiral in toward the GC,tidal stripping and mass segregation have a preference in leading to the loss of normal stars from GlCs,while MSPs are more likely to concentrate to cluster center and be deposited into the GC.Moreover,we gaugeε_(γ)of GlCs is~10-1000 times larger than the Galactic bulge,the latter is thought to reside thousands of unresolved MSPs and may be responsible for the GC 7-ray excess,which supports that GlCs are generous contributors to the population of MSPs in the GC.

A Catalog of ^(13)CO Clumps from the MWISP in l=10°–20°

In this study, we present a catalog of molecular clumps extracted from ^(13)CO(J=1-0) emission data of the Milky Way Imaging Scroll Painting(MWISP) project. The data covers the inner Milky Way within the longitude range10°≤l≤20° and the latitude strip of |b|≤ 5°. 25. The workflow for the extraction of clumps, namely Facet-SS-3DClump, consists of two parts: the identification of clump candidates and their verification. First, Facet-SS-3DClump employs FacetClumps to identify clump candidates. Subsequently, high-confidence clumps are obtained by cross-matching with the clumps detected by other algorithms, such as dendrogram. Second, these high-confidence clumps are used as prior knowledge to train a semi-supervised deep clustering approach, SS-3D-Clump, which is applied to verify clump candidates detected by FacetClumps, providing confidence levels for the molecular clumps. Finally, the catalog comprising 18,757 molecular clumps was obtained using Facet-SS-3D-Clump, and the catalog is 90% complete above 37 K km s^(-1). We observe a significant deviation of the mean Galactic latitude for clumps within |b|≤ 2° from the midplane, with b=-0°.110. We found that 82.3% of the dust clumps correspond to ^(13)CO clumps by matching with Herschel infrared dust clumps. In the future, Facet-SS-3D-Clump will be applied to detect ^(13)CO clumps in the entire MWISP data.

Rotating Massive Strangeon Stars and X-Ray Plateau of Short GRBs

Strangeon stars,which are proposed to describe the nature of pulsar-like compact stars,have passed various observational tests.The maximum mass of a non-rotating strangeon star could be high,which implies that the remnants of binary strangeon star mergers could even be long-lived massive strangeon stars.We study rigidly rotating strangeon stars in the slowly rotating approximation,using the Lennard-Jones model for the equation of state.Rotation can significantly increase the maximum mass of strangeon stars with unchanged baryon numbers,enlarging the mass-range of long-lived strangeon stars.During spin-down after merger,the decrease of radius of the remnant will lead to the release of gravitational energy.Taking into account the efficiency of converting the gravitational energy luminosity to the observed X-ray luminosity,we find that the gravitational energy could provide an alternative energy source for the plateau emission of X-ray afterglow.The fitting results of X-ray plateau emission of some short gamma-ray bursts suggest that the magnetic dipole field strength of the remnants can be much smaller than that of expected when the plateau emission is powered only by spin-down luminosity of magnetars.

How to Coadd Images.Ⅱ.Anti-aliasing and PSF Deconvolution

We have developed a novel method for co-adding multiple under-sampled images that combines the iteratively reweighted least squares and divide-and-conquer algorithms.Our approach not only allows for the anti-aliasing of the images but also enables Point-Spread Function(PSF)deconvolution,resulting in enhanced restoration of extended sources,the highest peak signal-to-noise ratio,and reduced ringing artefacts.To test our method,we conducted numerical simulations that replicated observation runs of the China Space Station Telescope/the VLT Survey Telescope(VST)and compared our results to those obtained using previous algorithms.The simulation showed that our method outperforms previous approaches in several ways,such as restoring the profile of extended sources and minimizing ringing artefacts.Additionally,because our method relies on the inherent advantages of least squares fitting,it is more versatile and does not depend on the local uniformity hypothesis for the PSF.However,the new method consumes much more computation than the other approaches.

Transverse momentum balance of dijets in Xe+Xe collisions at the LHC

We present a theoretical study of the medium modifications of the p_(T)balance (x_(J)) of dijets in Xe+Xe collisions at■.The initial production of dijets was carried out using the POWHEG+PYTHIA8 prescription,which matches the next-toleading-order (NLO) QCD matrix elements with the parton shower (PS) effect.The SHELL model described the in-medium evolution of nucleus–nucleus collisions using a transport approach.The theoretical results of the dijet xJin the Xe+Xe collisions exhibit more imbalanced distributions than those in the p+p collisions,consistent with recently reported ATLAS data.By utilizing the Interleaved Flavor Neutralisation,an infrared-and-collinear-safe jet flavor algorithm,to identify the flavor of the reconstructed jets,we classify dijets processes into three categories:gluon–gluon (gg),quark–gluon (qg),and quark–quark (qq),and investigated the respective medium modification patterns and fraction changes of the gg,qg,and qq components of the dijet sample in Xe+Xe collisions.It is shown that the increased fraction of qg component at a small x_(J)contributes to the imbalance of the dijet;in particular,the q_(1)g_(2)(quark-jet-leading) dijets experience more significant asymmetric energy loss than the g_(1)q_(2)(gluon-jet-leading) dijets traversing the QGP.By comparing the■of inclusive,■ dijets in Xe+Xe collisions,we observe■.Moreover,ρ_(Xe),P_(b),the ratios of the nuclear modification factors of dijets in Xe+Xe to those in Pb+Pb,were calculated,which indicates that the yield suppression of dijets in Pb+Pb is more pronounced than that in Xe+Xe owing to the larger radius of the lead nucleus.

Probing the Galactic Halo with RR Lyrae Stars.VI.The Radial Velocity Curve Templates of RRc Stars

We present radial velocity(RV)curve templates of RR Lyrae first-overtone(RRc)stars constructed with the Mg I b triplet and Hαlines using time-domain Medium-Resolution Survey spectra of seven RRc stars from Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope(LAMOST)Data Release 9.Additionally,we derive the relation between the stellar RV curve amplitudes and g-band light curve amplitudes from Zwicky Transient Facility(ZTF)public survey.For those RRc stars without ZTF g-band light curves,we provide the conversions from the light curve amplitudes in ZTF r-and i-bands,Gaia G-band,and V-band from the All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae to those in ZTF g-band.We validate our RV curve templates using the RRc star SV Scl and find the uncertainties of systemic RV are less than 2.11 km s~(-1)and 6.08 km s~(-1)based on the Mg I b triplet and Hαlines,respectively.We calculate the systemic RVs of 30 RRc stars using the RV curve templates constructed with the Mg I b triplet and Hαlines and find the systemic RVs are comparable with each other.This RV curve template will be particularly useful for obtaining the systemic RV of RRc using the LAMOST spectroscopy.

Can near-to-mid Infrared Spectral Energy Distribution Quantitatively Trace Protoplanetary Disk Evolution?

Infrared(IR)spectral energy distribution(SED)is the major tracer of protoplanetary disks.It was recently proposed to use the near-to-mid IR(or K-24)SED slopeαdefined between 2 and 24μm as a potential quantitative tracer of disk age.We critically examine the viability of this idea and confront it with additional statistics of IR luminosities and SED shapes.We point out that,because the statistical properties of most of the complicated physical factors involved in disk evolution are still poorly understood in a quantitative sense,the only viable way is to assume them to be random so that an idealized“average disk”can be defined,which allows theαhistogram to trace its age.We confirm that the statistics of the zeroth order(luminosity),first order(slopeα),and second order characteristics(concavity)of the observed K-24 SEDs indeed carry useful information upon the evolutionary processes of the“average disk”.We also stress that intrinsic diversities in K-24 SED shapes and luminosities are always large at the level of individual stars so that the application of the evolutionary path of the“average disk”to individual stars must be done with care.The data of most curves in plots are provided on GitHub(Disk-age package https://github.com/starage/disk-age/).

The In-Flight Realtime Trigger and Localization Software of GECAM

Realtime trigger and localization of bursts are the key functions of GECAM,an all-sky gamma-ray monitor launched on 2020 December 10.We developed a multifunctional trigger and localization software operating in the CPU of the GECAM Electronic Box.This onboard software has the following features:high trigger efficiency for real celestial bursts with a suppression of false triggers caused by charged particle bursts and background fluctuation,dedicated localization algorithm optimized for both short and long bursts,and low time latency of the trigger information which is downlinked through the Global Short Message Communication service of the global BeiDou navigation system.This paper provides a detailed description of the design and development of the trigger and localization software system for GECAM.It covers the general design,workflow,the main functions,and the algorithms used in the system.The paper also includes on-ground trigger tests using simulated gamma-ray bursts generated by a dedicated X-ray tube,as well as an overview of the performance for real celestial bursts during its in-orbit operation.

The ALMA-QUARKS Survey.Ⅰ.Survey Description and Data Reduction

This paper presents an overview of the QUARKS survey,which stands for Querying Underlying mechanisms of massive star formation with ALMA-Resolved gas Kinematics and Structures."The QUARKS survey is observing139 massive clumps covered by 156 pointings at Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array(ALMA)Band 6(λ~1.3 mm).In conjunction with data obtained from the ALMA-ATOMS survey at Band 3(λ~3 mm),QUARKS aims to carry out an unbiased statistical investigation of massive star formation process within protoclusters down to a scale of 1000 au.This overview paper describes the observations and data reduction of the QUARKS survey,and gives a first look at an exemplar source,the mini-starburst Sgr B2(M).The wide-b and width(7.5 GHz)and high-angular-resolution(~0."3)observations of the QUARKS survey allow for the resolution of much more compact cores than those could be done by the ATOMS survey,and to detect previously unrevealed fainter filamentary structures.The spectral windows cover transitions of species including CO,SO,N_(2)D^(+),SiO,H_(30)α,H_(2)CO,CH_(3)CN,and many other complex organic molecules,tracing gas components with different temperatures and spatial extents.QUARKS aims to deepen our understanding of several scientific topics of massive star formation,such as the mass transport within protoclusters by(hub-)filamentary structures,the existence of massive starless cores,the physical and chemical properties of dense cores within protoclusters,and the feedback from already formed high-mass young protostars.

A tale of planet formation: from dust to planets

The characterization of exoplanets and their birth protoplanetary disks has enormously advanced in the last decade.Benefitting from that,our global understanding of the planet formation processes has been substantially improved.In this review,we first summarize the cutting-edge states of the exoplanet and disk observations.We further present a comprehensive panoptic view of modern core accretion planet formation scenarios,including dust growth and radial drift,planetesimal formation by the streaming instability,core growth by planetesimal accretion and pebble accretion.We discuss the key concepts and physical processes in each growth stage and elaborate on the connections between theoretical studies and observational revelations.Finally,we point out the critical questions and future directions of planet formation studies.

GGCHEMPY: A Pure Python-based Gas-grain Chemical Code for Efficient Simulation of Interstellar Chemistry

In this paper,we present a new gas-grain chemical code for interstellar clouds written in pure Python(GGCHEMPY(GGCHEMPY is available on https://github.com/JixingGE/GGCHEMPY)).By combining with the high-performance Python compiler Numba,GGCHEMPY is as efficient as the Fortran-based version.With the Python features,flexible computational workflows and extensions become possible.As a showcase,GGCHEMPY is applied to study the general effects of three-dimensional projection on molecular distributions using a two-core system which can be easily extended for more complex cases.By comparing the molecular distribution differences between two overlapping cores and two merging cores,we summarized the typical chemical differences such as N2 H+,HC3 N,C2 S,H2 CO,HCN and C2 H,which can be used to interpret 3 D structures in molecular clouds.