New Candidate Massive Clusters from 2MASS

Massive stars are important for the evolution of the interstellar medium. The detailed study of their properties (such as mass loss, rotation, magnetic fields) is enormously facilitated by samples of these objects in young massive galactic star clusters. Using 2MASS we have searched for so far unknown candidates of red supergiant clusters along the Galactic Plane. Utilising deep high resolution UKIDSS GPS and VISTA VVV data to study colour-magnitude diagrams, we uncover six new massive cluster candidates in the inner Galaxy. If spectroscopically confirmed as real clusters, two of them could be part of the Scutum-Complex. One cluster candidate has a number of potential red supergiant members comparable to RSGC1 and 3. Our investigation of UKIDSS data reveals for the first time the main sequence of the massive cluster RSGC2. The stars of the sequence show an increased projected density at the same position as the known red supergiants in the cluster and have E(J-K) = 1.6 mag. This either indicates an unusual extinction law along the line of sight or a much lower near infrared extinction to the cluster than previously estimated in the literature. We suggest that psf-photometry in UKIDSS images might be able to uncover the main sequence of other RSGC clusters.

Correction Factors of the Measurement Errors of the LAMOST-LRS Stellar Parameters

We aim to investigate the propriety of stellar parameter errors of the official data release of the LAMOST lowresolution spectroscopy(LRS)survey.We diagnose the errors of radial velocity(RV),atmospheric parameters([Fe/H],Teff,logg)andα-enhancement([α/M])for the latest data release version of DR7,including 6,079,235effective spectra of 4,546,803 stars.Based on the duplicate observational sample and comparing the deviation of multiple measurements to their given errors,we find that,in general,the error of[α/M]is largely underestimated,and the error of RV is slightly overestimated.We define a correction factor k to quantify these misestimations and correct the errors to be expressed as proper internal uncertainties.Using this self-calibration technique,we find that the k-factors significantly vary with the stellar spectral types and the spectral signal-to-noise ratio(S/N).Particularly,we reveal a strange but evident trend between k-factors and error themselves for all five stellar parameters.Larger errors tend to have smaller k-factor values,i.e.,they were more overestimated.After the correction,we recreate and quantify the tight correlations between S/N and errors,for all five parameters,while these correlations have dependence on spectral types.It also suggests that the parameter errors from each spectrum should be corrected individually.Finally,we provide the error correction factors of each derived parameter of each spectrum for the entire LAMOST-LRS DR7 and plan to update them for the later data releases.

Australasian microtektites across the Antarctic continent: Evidence from the Sør Rondane Mountain range (East Antarctica)

The~790 ka Australasian(micro)tektite strewn field is one of the most recent and best-known examples of impact ejecta emplacement as the result of a large-scale cratering event across a considerable part of Earth's surface(>10%in area).The Australasian strewn field is characterized by a tri-lobe pattern consisting of a large central distribution lobe,and two smaller side lobes extending to the west and east.Here,we report on the discovery of microtektite-like particles in sedimentary traps,containing abundant micrometeorite material,in the Sør Rondane Mountain(SRM)range of East Antarctica.The thirty-three glassy particles display a characteristic pale yellowcolor and are predominantly spherical in shape,except for a single dumbbell-shaped particle.The vitreous spherules range in size from220 to 570μm,with an average diameter of~370μm.This compares relatively well with the size distribution(75–778μm)of Australasian microtektites previously recovered from the TransantarcticMountains(TAM)and located ca.2500–3000 km fromthe SRM.In addition,the chemical composition of the SRM particles exhibits limited variation and is nearly identical to the‘normal-type’(i.e.,<6%MgO)TAM microtektites.The Sr and Nd isotope systematics for a single batch of SRM particles(n=26)strongly support their affiliation with TAMmicrotektites and the Australasian tektite strewn field in general.Furthermore,Sr isotope ratios and Nd model ages suggest that the target material of the SRM particles was composed of a plagioclase-or carbonate-rich lithology derived from a Paleo-or Mesoproterozoic crustal unit.The affiliation to the Australasian strewn field requires long-range transportation,with estimated great circle distances of ca.11,600 km from the hypothetical source crater,provided transportation occurred along the central distribution lobe.This is in agreement with the observations made for the Australasian microtektites recovered from Victoria Land(ca.11,000 km)and Larkman Nunatak(ca.12,000 km),which,on average,decrease in size and alkali concentrations(e.g.,Na and K)as their distance from the source crater increases.The values for the SRMparticles are intermediate to those of the Victoria Land and Larkman Nunatak microtektites for both parameters,thus supporting this observation.We therefore interpret the SRM particles as‘normal-type’Australasian microtektites,which significantly extend the central distribution lobe of the Australasian strewn field westward.Australasian microtektite distribution thus occurred on a continent-wide scale across Antarctica and allows for the identification of new,potential recovery sites on the Antarctic continent as well as the southeastern part of the Indian Ocean.Similar to volcanic ash layers,the~790 ka distal Australasian impact ejecta are thus a record of an instantaneous event that can be used for time-stratigraphic correlation across Antarctica.

DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys Data Release 9:Cosmological constraints from galaxy clustering and weak lensing using the minimal bias model

We present a tentative constraint on cosmological parameters Ω_(m) and σ_(8) from a joint analysis of galaxy clustering and galaxygalaxy lensing from DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys Data Release 9(DR9),covering approximately 10000 square degrees and spanning the redshift range of 0.1 to 0.9.To study the dependence of cosmological parameters on lens redshift,we divide lens galaxies into seven approximately volume-limited samples,each with an equal width in photometric redshift.To retrieve the intrinsic projected correlation function w_(p)(r_(p))from the lens samples,we employ a novel method to account for redshift uncertainties.Additionally,we measured the galaxy-galaxy lensing signal ΔΣ(r_(p))for each lens sample,using source galaxies selected from the shear catalog by applying our Fourier Quad pipeline to DR9 images.We model these observables within the flatΛCDM framework,employing the minimal bias model.To ensure the reliability of the minimal bias model,we apply conservative scale cuts:r_(p)>8 and 12 h^(-1)Mpc,for w_(p)(r_(p))and ΔΣ(r_(p)),respectively.Our findings suggest a mild tendency that S_(8)=σ_(8)√Ω_(m)/0.3increases with lens redshift,although this trend is only marginally significant.When we combine low redshift samples,the value of S8is determined to be 0.84±0.02,consistent with the Planck results but significantly higher than the 3×2 pt analysis by 2-5σ.Despite the fact that further refinements in measurements and modeling could improve the accuracy of our results,the consistency with standard values demonstrates the potential of our method for more precise and accurate cosmology in the future.