The Lomb–Scargle periodogram is a well-known algorithm for detecting and characterizing periodic signals in unevenly sampled data. This paper presents a conceptual introduction to the Lomb–Scargle periodogram and important practical considerations for its use. Rather than a rigorous mathematical treatment, the goal of this paper is to build intuition about what assumptions are implicit in the use of the Lomb–Scargle periodogram and related estimators of periodicity, so as to motivate important practical considerations required in its proper application and interpretation.
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The American Astronomical Society (AAS), established in 1899 and based in Washington, DC, is the major organization of professional astronomers in North America. Its membership of about 7,000 individuals also includes physicists, mathematicians, geologists, engineers, and others whose research and educational interests lie within the broad spectrum of subjects comprising contemporary astronomy. The mission of the AAS is to enhance and share humanity's scientific understanding of the universe.
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GOLD OPEN ACCESS FROM 1 JANUARY 2022
Tonima Tasnim Ananna et al 2022 ApJS 261 9
We determine the low-redshift X-ray luminosity function, active black hole mass function (BHMF), and Eddington ratio distribution function (ERDF) for both unobscured (Type 1) and obscured (Type 2) active galactic nuclei (AGNs), using the unprecedented spectroscopic completeness of the BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey (BASS) data release 2. In addition to a straightforward 1/Vmax approach, we also compute the intrinsic distributions, accounting for sample truncation by employing a forward-modeling approach to recover the observed BHMF and ERDF. As previous BHMFs and ERDFs have been robustly determined only for samples of bright, broad-line (Type 1) AGNs and/or quasars, ours are the first directly observationally constrained BHMF and ERDF of Type 2 AGNs. We find that after accounting for all observational biases, the intrinsic ERDF of Type 2 AGNs is significantly more skewed toward lower Eddington ratios than the intrinsic ERDF of Type 1 AGNs. This result supports the radiation-regulated unification scenario, in which radiation pressure dictates the geometry of the dusty obscuring structure around an AGN. Calculating the ERDFs in two separate mass bins, we verify that the derived shape is consistent, validating the assumption that the ERDF (shape) is mass-independent. We report the local AGN duty cycle as a function of mass and Eddington ratio, by comparing the BASS active BHMF with the local mass function for all supermassive black holes. We also present the of the Swift/BAT 70 month sources.
Alex S. Polanski et al 2024 ApJS 272 32
The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has discovered hundreds of new worlds, with TESS planet candidates now outnumbering the total number of confirmed planets from Kepler. Owing to differences in survey design, TESS continues to provide planets that are better suited for subsequent follow-up studies, including mass measurement through radial velocity (RV) observations, compared to Kepler targets. In this work, we present the TESS-Keck Survey's (TKS) Mass Catalog: a uniform analysis of all TKS RV survey data that has resulted in mass constraints for 126 planets and candidate signals. This includes 58 mass measurements that have reached ≥5σ precision. We confirm or validate 32 new planets from the TESS mission either by significant mass measurement (15) or statistical validation (17), and we find no evidence of likely false positives among our entire sample. This work also serves as a data release for all previously unpublished TKS survey data, including 9,204 RV measurements and associated activity indicators over our three-year survey. We took the opportunity to assess the performance of our survey and found that we achieved many of our goals, including measuring the mass of 38 small (<4 R⊕) planets, nearly achieving the TESS mission's basic science requirement. In addition, we evaluated the performance of the Automated Planet Finder as survey support and observed meaningful constraints on system parameters, due to its more uniform phase coverage. Finally, we compared our measured masses to those predicted by commonly used mass–radius relations and investigated evidence of systematic bias.
Przemek Mróz et al 2024 ApJS 273 4
Measurements of the microlensing optical depth and event rate toward the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) can be used to probe the distribution and mass function of compact objects in the direction toward that galaxy—in the Milky Way disk, the Milky Way dark matter halo, and the LMC itself. The previous measurements, based on small statistical samples of events, found that the optical depth is an order of magnitude smaller than that expected from the entire dark matter halo in the form of compact objects. However, these previous studies were not sensitive to long-duration events with Einstein timescales longer than 2.5–3 yr, which are expected from massive (10–100 M⊙) and intermediate-mass (102–105M⊙) black holes. Such events would have been missed by the previous studies and would not have been taken into account in calculations of the optical depth. Here, we present the analysis of nearly 20 yr long photometric monitoring of 78.7 million stars in the LMC by the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) from 2001 through 2020. We describe the observing setup, the construction of the 20 yr OGLE data set, the methods used for searching for microlensing events in the light-curve data, and the calculation of the event detection efficiency. In total, we find 16 microlensing events (13 using an automated pipeline and three with manual searches), all of which have timescales shorter than 1 yr. We use a sample of 13 events to measure the microlensing optical depth toward the LMC τ = (0.121 ± 0.037) × 10−7 and the event rate Γ = (0.74 ± 0.25) × 10−7 yr−1 star−1. These numbers are consistent with lensing by stars in the Milky Way disk and the LMC itself, and they demonstrate that massive and intermediate-mass black holes cannot comprise a significant fraction of the dark matter.
Tracy X. Chen et al 2022 ApJS 260 5
We present an overview of best practices for publishing data in astronomy and astrophysics journals. These recommendations are intended as a reference for authors to help prepare and publish data in a way that will better represent and support science results, enable better data sharing, improve reproducibility, and enhance the reusability of data. Observance of these guidelines will also help to streamline the extraction, preservation, integration and cross-linking of valuable data from astrophysics literature into major astronomical databases, and consequently facilitate new modes of science discovery that will better exploit the vast quantities of panchromatic and multidimensional data associated with the literature. We encourage authors, journal editors, referees, and publishers to implement the best practices reviewed here, as well as related recommendations from international astronomical organizations such as the International Astronomical Union for publication of nomenclature, data, and metadata. A convenient Checklist of Recommendations for Publishing Data in the Literature (Appendix A) is included for authors to consult before the submission of the final version of their journal articles and associated data files. We recommend that publishers of journals in astronomy and astrophysics incorporate a link to this document in their Instructions to Authors.
Netai Bhukta et al 2024 ApJS 273 30
Giant radio sources (GRSs) are the single largest astrophysical objects known in the Universe that have grown to megaparsec scales (≥0.7 Mpc). GRSs are much rarer compared with normal-sized radio galaxies. Still, the reason for the formation of their gigantic sizes is under debate. We systematically search for GRSs from the TIFR Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope Sky Survey Alternative Data Release 1 at 150 MHz. We have newly identified 34 GRSs from this study. We have also studied the multiwavelength properties (radio, optical, and infrared) of these GRSs. We have used the likelihood ratio method to identify highly reliable multiwavelength counterparts of GRSs from Pan-STARRS (optical) and Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (mid-IR) data. We have classified GRSs based on their accretion mode of the central black holes using optical and mid-IR data. For all sources, we also discuss the principal characteristic parameters (redshift distribution, angular and projected linear size, total integrated radio flux density, spectral index, and radio power). We show the radio evolution track and the location of the GRSs in the P–D diagram. Using a radio–optical luminosity diagram, we identify GRSs in the Fanaroff–Riley classification. Only two GRGs in our sample reside close to the centers of galaxy clusters.
D. J. McComas et al 2020 ApJS 248 26
NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) mission has operated in space for a full solar activity cycle (Solar Cycle 24), and IBEX observations have exposed the global three-dimensional structure of the heliosphere and its interaction with the very local interstellar medium for the first time. Here, we extend the prior IBEX observations of energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) by adding a comprehensive analysis of four additional years (2016 through 2019). We document several improvements and rerelease the entire 11 yr, IBEX-Hi data set. The new observations track the continuing expansion of the outer heliosphere's response to the large solar wind pressure increase in late 2014. We find that the intensification of ENAs from the heliosheath continued to expand progressively over time to directions farther from the initial, closest direction to the heliospheric boundaries, ∼20° south of the upwind direction. This expansion extended beyond the south pole in 2018 and the north pole in 2019, demonstrating that the termination shock and heliopause are closer in the south. The heliotail has not yet responded, indicating that the boundaries are significantly farther away in the downwind direction. Finally, the slow solar wind (∼1 keV) ENAs just started to intensify from the closest regions of the IBEX Ribbon. This is about two and a half years after the initial response from heliosheath ENAs and about four and a half years after the increase in solar wind output, both clearly implicating a "secondary ENA" source in the draped interstellar magnetic field, just beyond the heliopause.
Bill Paxton et al 2011 ApJS 192 3
Stellar physics and evolution calculations enable a broad range of research in astrophysics. Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA) is a suite of open source, robust, efficient, thread-safe libraries for a wide range of applications in computational stellar astrophysics. A one-dimensional stellar evolution module, MESAstar, combines many of the numerical and physics modules for simulations of a wide range of stellar evolution scenarios ranging from very low mass to massive stars, including advanced evolutionary phases. MESAstar solves the fully coupled structure and composition equations simultaneously. It uses adaptive mesh refinement and sophisticated timestep controls, and supports shared memory parallelism based on OpenMP. State-of-the-art modules provide equation of state, opacity, nuclear reaction rates, element diffusion data, and atmosphere boundary conditions. Each module is constructed as a separate Fortran 95 library with its own explicitly defined public interface to facilitate independent development. Several detailed examples indicate the extensive verification and testing that is continuously performed and demonstrate the wide range of capabilities that MESA possesses. These examples include evolutionary tracks of very low mass stars, brown dwarfs, and gas giant planets to very old ages; the complete evolutionary track of a 1 M☉ star from the pre-main sequence (PMS) to a cooling white dwarf; the solar sound speed profile; the evolution of intermediate-mass stars through the He-core burning phase and thermal pulses on the He-shell burning asymptotic giant branch phase; the interior structure of slowly pulsating B Stars and Beta Cepheids; the complete evolutionary tracks of massive stars from the PMS to the onset of core collapse; mass transfer from stars undergoing Roche lobe overflow; and the evolution of helium accretion onto a neutron star. MESA can be downloaded from the project Web site (http://mesa.sourceforge.net/).
Abdurro'uf et al 2022 ApJS 259 35
This paper documents the seventeenth data release (DR17) from the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys; the fifth and final release from the fourth phase (SDSS-IV). DR17 contains the complete release of the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey, which reached its goal of surveying over 10,000 nearby galaxies. The complete release of the MaNGA Stellar Library accompanies this data, providing observations of almost 30,000 stars through the MaNGA instrument during bright time. DR17 also contains the complete release of the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment 2 survey that publicly releases infrared spectra of over 650,000 stars. The main sample from the Extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS), as well as the subsurvey Time Domain Spectroscopic Survey data were fully released in DR16. New single-fiber optical spectroscopy released in DR17 is from the SPectroscipic IDentification of ERosita Survey subsurvey and the eBOSS-RM program. Along with the primary data sets, DR17 includes 25 new or updated value-added catalogs. This paper concludes the release of SDSS-IV survey data. SDSS continues into its fifth phase with observations already underway for the Milky Way Mapper, Local Volume Mapper, and Black Hole Mapper surveys.
Zhen Cao et al 2024 ApJS 271 25
We present the first catalog of very-high-energy and ultra-high-energy gamma-ray sources detected by the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory. The catalog was compiled using 508 days of data collected by the Water Cherenkov Detector Array from 2021 March to 2022 September and 933 days of data recorded by the Kilometer Squared Array from 2020 January to 2022 September. This catalog represents the main result from the most sensitive large coverage gamma-ray survey of the sky above 1 TeV, covering decl. from −20° to 80°. In total, the catalog contains 90 sources with an extended size smaller than 2° and a significance of detection at >5σ. Based on our source association criteria, 32 new TeV sources are proposed in this study. Among the 90 sources, 43 sources are detected with ultra-high energy (E > 100 TeV) emission at >4σ significance level. We provide the position, extension, and spectral characteristics of all the sources in this catalog.
Shaohua Zhang et al 2024 ApJS 274 5
We present a comprehensive study of ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs), leveraging data from the Infrared Astronomical Satellite Faint Source Catalogue and the spectroscopic catalog in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 16. Our meticulous crossmatching technique significantly enhances the reliability of ULIRG identification, resulting in the identification of 283 reliable ULIRGs, including 102 new detections, while discarding 120 previously reported false sources. Covering a redshift range of z = 0.018–0.996, with a median redshift of , our uniform sample reveals apparent interaction features in approximately 40% of ULIRGs, increasing to 92% for those with z < 0.1. Through optical spectra analysis, it is indicated that over 58% of ULIRGs host an active galactic nucleus (AGN), which is twice as high as detections based solely on infrared colors. Moreover, a pronounced excess of radio emissions associated with AGN activity results in a steeper radio–far-infrared correlation. Notably, Type I ULIRGs exhibit properties similar to those of narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies, with an elevated incidence rate of Mg ii broad absorption lines (16.7%), surpassing that of typical optically selected quasars by over tenfold, consistent with current evolutionary models. We anticipate that forthcoming telescopes such as the China Space Station Telescope and Leighton Chajnantor Telescope will provide deeper insights into ULIRG morphology, dust distribution, molecular gas, and AGN activity.
Ye-Peng Yan et al 2024 ApJS 274 4
In our previous study, we introduced a machine learning technique, namely Cosmic Microwave Background Foreground Subtraction with Convolutional Neural Networks (CMBFSCNN), for the removal of foreground contamination in cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization data. This method was successfully employed on actual observational data from the Planck mission. In this study, we extend our investigation by considering the CMB lensing effect in simulated data and utilizing the CMBFSCNN approach to recover the CMB lensing B-mode power spectrum from multifrequency observational maps. Our method is first applied to simulated data with the performance of the CMB-S4 experiment. We achieve reliable recovery of the noisy CMB Q (or U) maps with a mean absolute difference of 0.016 ± 0.008 μK (or 0.021 ± 0.002 μK) for the CMB-S4 experiment. To address the residual instrumental noise in the foreground-cleaned map, we employ a "half-split maps" approach, where the entire data set is divided into two segments sharing the same sky signal but having uncorrelated noise. Using cross-correlation techniques between two recovered half-split maps, we effectively reduce instrumental noise effects at the power spectrum level. As a result, we achieve precise recovery of the CMB EE and lensing B-mode power spectra. Furthermore, we also extend our pipeline to full-sky simulated data with the performance of the LiteBIRD experiment. As expected, various foregrounds are cleanly removed from the foregrounds contamination observational maps, and recovered EE and lensing B-mode power spectra exhibit excellent agreement with the true results. Finally, we discuss the dependency of our method on the foreground models.
J. S. Gallagher et al 2024 ApJS 274 3
Zw 049.057 is a moderate-mass, dusty, early-type galaxy that hosts a powerful compact obscured nucleus (CON, LFIR,CON ≥ 1011L⊙). The resolution of the Hubble Space Telescope enabled measurements of the stellar light distribution and characterization of dust features. Zw 049.057 is inclined with a prominent three-zone disk; the R ≈ 1 kpc star-forming inner dusty disk contains molecular gas, a main disk with less dust and an older stellar population, and a newly detected outer stellar region at R > 6 kpc with circular isophotes. Previously unknown polar dust lanes are signatures of a past minor merger that could have warped the outer disk to near face-on. Dust transmission measurements provide lower limit gas mass estimates for dust features. An extended region with moderate optical depth and M ≥ 2 × 108M⊙ obscures the central 2 kpc. Optical spectra show strong interstellar Na D absorption with a constant velocity across the main disk, likely arising in this extraplanar medium. Opacity measurements of the two linear dust features, pillars, give a total mass of ≥106M⊙, flow rates of ≥2 M⊙ yr−1, and few Myr flow times. Dust pillars are associated with the CON and are visible signs of its role in driving large-scale feedback. Our assessments of feedback processes suggest gas recycling sustains the CON. However, radiation pressure driven mass loss and efficient star formation must be avoided for the active galactic nucleus to retain sufficient gas over its lifespan to produce substantial mass growth of the central black hole.
Zhongding Cheng et al 2024 ApJS 274 2
This paper presents a robust neural network approach for identifying hot subdwarfs. Our method leveraged the Squeeze-and-Excitation Residual Network to extract abstract features, which were combined with experience features to create hybrid features. These hybrid features were then classified using a support vector machine. To enhance accuracy, we employed a two-stage procedure. In the first stage, a binary classification model was constructed to distinguish hot subdwarfs, achieving a precision of 98.55% on the test set. In the second stage, a four-class classification model was employed to further refine the candidates, achieving a precision of 91.75% on the test set. Using the binary classification model, we classified 333,534 spectra from LAMOST DR8, resulting in a catalog of 3086 hot subdwarf candidates. Subsequently, the four-class classification model was applied to filter these candidates further. When applying thresholds of 0.5 and 0.9, we identified 2132 and 1247 candidates, respectively. Among these candidates, we visually inspected their spectra and identified 58 and 30 new hot subdwarfs, respectively, resulting in a precision of 82.04% and 88.21% for these discoveries. Furthermore, we evaluated the 3086 candidates obtained in the first stage and identified 168 new hot subdwarfs, achieving an overall precision of 62.54%. Lastly, we trained a Squeeze-and-Excitation regression model with mean absolute error values of 3009 K for Teff, 0.20 dex for log g, and 0.42 dex for log(nHe/nH). Using this model, we predicted the atmospheric parameters of these 168 newly discovered hot subdwarfs.
Monica Seglar-Arroyo et al 2024 ApJS 274 1
Time-domain astrophysics has leaped forward with the direct discovery of gravitational waves and the emergence of new generation instruments for multimessenger studies. The capacity of the multimessenger multiwavelength community to effectively pursue follow-up observations is hindered by the suboptimal localization of numerous transient events and the escalating volume of alerts. Thus, we have developed an effective tool to overcome the observational and technical hurdles inherent in the emerging field of multimessenger astrophysics. We present tilepy, a Python package for the automatic scheduling of follow-up observations of poorly localized transient events. It is ideally suited to tackle the challenge of complex follow-up in mid- and small-field-of-view telescope campaigns, with or without human intervention. We demonstrate the capabilities of tilepy in the realm of multiobservatory, multiwavelength campaigns, to cover the localization uncertainty region of various events ultimately aiming at pinpointing the source of the multimessenger emission. The tilepy code is publicly available on GitHub and is sufficiently flexible to be employed either automatically or in a customized manner, tailored to collaboration and individual requirements. tilepy is also accessible via a public API and through the Astro-COLIBRI platform.