CTIO Research Articles

A Census of the β Pic Moving Group and Other Nearby Associations with Gaia* * Based on observations made with the Gaia mission, the Two Micron All Sky Survey, the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility, Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, the Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope, Gemini Observatory, the Spitzer Space Telescope, and the eROSITA instrument on the

I have used the third data release of the Gaia mission to improve the reliability and completeness of membership samples in the β Pic moving group (BPMG) and other nearby associations with ages of 20–50 Myr (Sco Body, Carina, Columba, χ 1 For, Tuc-Hor, IC 2602, IC 2391, NGC 2547). I find that Carina, Columba, and χ 1 For are physically related and coeval, and that Carina is the closest fringe of a much larger association. Similarly, Tuc-Hor and IC 2602 form a coeval population that is spatially and kinematically continuous. Both results agree with hypotheses from Gagné et al. I have used the new catalogs to study the associations in terms of their initial mass functions, X-ray emission, ages, and circumstellar disks. For instance, using the model for Li depletion from Jeffries et al., I have derived an age of 24.7−0.6+0.9 Myr for BPMG, which is similar to estimates from previous studies. In addition, I have used infrared photometry from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer to check for excess emission from circumstellar disks among the members of the associations, which has resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of known disks around M stars at ages of 30–50 Myr and a significant improvement in measurements of excess fractions for those spectral types and ages. Most notably, I find that the W3 excess fraction for M0–M6 initially declines with age to a minimum in BPMG (<0.015), increases to a maximum in Carina/Columba/χ 1 For ( 0.041−0.007+0.009 , 34 Myr), and declines again in the oldest two associations (40–50 Myr). The origin of that peak and the nature of the M dwarf disks at >20 Myr are unclear.

The Fourth S-PLUS Data Release: 12-filter photometry covering ~3000 square degrees in the southern hemisphere

The Southern Photometric Local Universe Survey (S-PLUS) is a project to map $ sq deg of the sky using twelve bands (seven narrow and five broadbands). Observations are performed with the T80-South telescope, a robotic telescope located at the Cerro Tololo Observatory in Chile. The survey footprint consists of several large contiguous areas, including fields at high and low galactic latitudes, and towards the Magellanic Clouds. S-PLUS uses fixed exposure times to reach point source depths of about $21$ mag in the $griz$ and $20$ mag in the $u$ and the narrow filters. This paper describes the S-PLUS Data Release 4 (DR4), which includes calibrated images and derived catalogues for over 3000 sq deg, covering the aforementioned area. The catalogues provide multi-band photometry performed with the tools DoPHOT and SExtractor -- point spread function ( and aperture photometry, respectively. In addition to the characterization, we also present the scientific potential of the data. We use statistical tools to present and compare the photometry obtained through different methods. Overall we find good agreement between the different methods, with a slight systematic offset of 0.05\,mag between our and aperture photometry. We show that the astrometry accuracy is equivalent to that obtained in previous S-PLUS data releases, even in very crowded fields where photometric extraction is challenging. The depths of main survey (MS) photometry for a minimum signal-to-noise ratio $S/N = 3$ reach from $ for the bluer bands to $ mag on the red. The range of magnitudes over which accurate photometry is obtained is shallower, reaching $ to $ mag depending on the filter. Based on these photometric data, we provide star-galaxy-quasar classification and photometric redshift for millions of objects. We demonstrate the versatility of the data by presenting the results of a project to identify members of four Abell galaxy clusters in the Local Universe. The S-PLUS DR4 data allow for a reliable assessment of cluster membership out to a large radius corresponding to $5 $. The S-PLUS DR4 can be accessed through the survey data portal. All the software used to generate the catalogues for this release and the scientific investigation presented is available in the collaboration GitHub repository. The S-PLUS DR4 consists of a large, calibrated public dataset, providing powerful ways for studying Galactic and extra-galactic objects through an extensive set of (broad and narrow) filters.

Surviving Tidal Tails Around the Milky Way Bulge Globular Cluster NGC 6355

We present results of the analysis of a set of images obtained in the field of the Milky Way bulge globular cluster NGC 6355 using the Dark Energy Camera, which is attached to the 4 m Blanco telescope of the Cerro-Tololo Interamerican Observatory. We dealt with a heavy differential absorption across the observed field, a crowded field star population, and the superposition of field stars on to the cluster color–magnitude diagram main features to produce an intrinsic cluster stars density map. The resulting stellar density map reveals the presence of an extended envelope, a tidal tail, and scattered debris; the tidal tails pointing toward the Milky Way center. Such extra-tidal overdensities, detected above the mean star field density, resulted to be between four and six times larger that the local star field density fluctuation. They have also been recently generated by two independent studies which performed numerical simulations of synthetic tidal tails of Milky Way globular clusters. These results contrast with previous theoretical speculations about the possibility to detect tidal tails of globular clusters with chaotic orbits because they would be washed out after they were generated.

The Merian survey: design, construction, and characterization of a filter set optimized to find dwarf galaxies and measure their dark matter halo properties with weak lensing

ABSTRACT The Merian survey is mapping ∼ 850 deg2 of the Hyper Suprime-Cam Strategic Survey Program (HSC-SSP) wide layer with two medium-band filters on the 4-m Victor M. Blanco telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, with the goal of carrying the first high signal-to-noise (S/N) measurements of weak gravitational lensing around dwarf galaxies. This paper presents the design of the Merian filter set: N708 (λc = 7080 Å, Δλ = 275 Å) and N540 (λc = 5400 Å, Δλ = 210 Å). The central wavelengths and filter widths of N708 and N540 were designed to detect the $\rm H\alpha$ and $\rm [OIII]$ emission lines of galaxies in the mass range $8\lt \rm \log M_*/M_\odot \lt 9$ by comparing Merian fluxes with HSC broad-band fluxes. Our filter design takes into account the weak lensing S/N and photometric redshift performance. Our simulations predict that Merian will yield a sample of ∼ 85 000 star-forming dwarf galaxies with a photometric redshift accuracy of σΔz/(1 + z) ∼ 0.01 and an outlier fraction of $\eta =2.8~{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ over the redshift range 0.058 &amp;lt; z &amp;lt; 0.10. With 60 full nights on the Blanco/Dark Energy Camera (DECam), the Merian survey is predicted to measure the average weak lensing profile around dwarf galaxies with lensing S/N ∼32 within r &amp;lt; 0.5 Mpc and lensing S/N ∼90 within r &amp;lt; 1.0 Mpc. This unprecedented sample of star-forming dwarf galaxies will allow for studies of the interplay between dark matter and stellar feedback and their roles in the evolution of dwarf galaxies.

First deep search of tidal tails in the Milky Way globular cluster NGC 6362

I present results of the analysis of a set of images obtained in the field of the Milky Way globular cluster NGC 6362 using the Dark Energy Camera, which is mounted in the 4.0 m Victor Blanco telescope of the Cerro-Tololo Interamerican Observatory. The cluster was selected as a science case for deep high-quality photometry because of the controversial observational findings and theoretical predictions on the existence of cluster tidal tails. The collected data allowed me to build an unprecedented deep cluster field color-magnitude diagram, from which I filtered stars to produce a stellar density map, to trace the stellar density variation as a function of the position angle for different concentric annuli centered on the cluster, and to construct a cluster stellar density radial profile. I also built a stellar density map from a synthetic color-magnitude diagram generated from a model of the stellar population distribution in the Milky Way. The entire analysis approach converged toward a relatively smooth stellar density between 1 and ∼3.8 cluster Jacobi radii, with a slight difference smaller than two times the background stellar density fluctuation between the mean stellar density of the southeastern hemisphere and that of the northwestern one, with the latter being higher. Moreover, the spatial distribution of the recently claimed tidal tail stars agrees well not only with the observed composite star field distribution, but also with the region least affected by interstellar absorption. Nevertheless, I detected a low stellar density excess around the cluster’s Jacobi radius, from which I conclude that NGC 6362 presents a thin extra tidal halo.

ERASSU J060839.5–704014: A double degenerate ultra-compact binary in the direction of the LMC

Context. During four all-sky surveys (eRASS1–4), eROSITA, the soft X-ray instrument aboard Spektrum-Roentgen-Gamma (SRG) detected a new supersoft X-ray source, eRASSU J060839.5−704014, in the direction of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Aims. We arranged follow-up observations in the X-ray and optical wavelengths and further searched in archival observations to reveal the nature of the object. Methods. Using X-ray observations with XMM-Newton we investigated the temporal and spectral behaviour of the source. Results. We discover pulsations at 374 s with a pulse profile consistent with 100% modulation. We identify two other periodicities in the eROSITA data, which we establish as aliases due to the sampling of the eROSITA light curve. We identify a multi-wavelength counterpart to the X-ray source in UVW1 and g, r, i, and z images obtained by the optical/UV monitor on XMM-Newton and the Dark Energy Camera at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. The timing and spectral characteristics of the source are consistent with a double degenerate ultra-compact binary system in the foreground of the LMC. eRASSU J060839.5−704014 belongs to a rare class of AM CVns, which are important to study in the context of progenitors of SN Ia and for persistent gravitational wave detection. Conclusions. We identify eRASSU J060839.5−704014 as a new double degenerate ultra-compact binary located in the foreground of the LMC.

The DECam Ecliptic Exploration Project (DEEP). II. Observational Strategy and Design

We present the DECam Ecliptic Exploration Project (DEEP) survey strategy, including observing cadence for orbit determination, exposure times, field pointings and filter choices. The overall goal of the survey is to discover and characterize the orbits of a few thousand Trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) using the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory Blanco 4 m telescope. The experiment is designed to collect a very deep series of exposures totaling a few hours on sky for each of several 2.7 square degree DECam fields-of-view to achieve approximate depths of magnitude 26.2 using a wide V R filter that encompasses both the V and R bandpasses. In the first year, several nights were combined to achieve a sky area of about 34 square degrees. In subsequent years, the fields have been re-visited to allow TNOs to be tracked for orbit determination. When complete, DEEP will be the largest survey of the outer solar system ever undertaken in terms of newly discovered object numbers, and the most prolific at producing multiyear orbital information for the population of minor planets beyond Neptune at 30 au.

Activity Discovered on Mars-Crossing Jupiter Family Comet 2018 OR by Citizen Scientists

We present the discovery of cometary activity on 2018 OR as part of our Active Asteroids project, a NASA Partner Program fueled by Zooniverse Citizen Scientists. Volunteers found 2018 OR with a long, diffuse tail in archival images from the Dark Energy Camera on the Blanco 4 m telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. Our team identified additional Canada–France–Hawaii–Telescope MegaCam and Zwicky Transient Facility archival data after classification by Citizen Scientists. Activity originating from 2018 OR and directed in the anti-solar and anti-velocity directions was visible in archival images between UT 2018 September 5–18. Our dynamical simulations indicate 2018 OR experiences close encounters with Jupiter over hundred-year timescales. The orbital period and dynamics suggest 2018 OR is a Jupiter Family Comet, and we recommend further observations from the community to reduce observational uncertainties and investigate activity patterns.

A dark siren measurement of the Hubble constant using gravitational wave events from the first three LIGO/Virgo observing runs and DELVE

ABSTRACT The current and next observation seasons will detect hundreds of gravitational waves (GWs) from compact binary systems coalescence at cosmological distances. When combined with independent electromagnetic measurements, the source redshift will be known, and we will be able to obtain precise measurements of the Hubble constant H0 via the distance–redshift relation. However, most observed mergers are not expected to have electromagnetic counterparts, which prevents a direct redshift measurement. In this scenario, one possibility is to use the dark sirens method that statistically marginalizes over all the potential host galaxies within the GW location volume to provide a probabilistic source redshift. Here we presented H0 measurements using two new dark sirens compared to previous analyses using DECam data: GW190924$\_$021846 and GW200202$\_$154313. The photometric redshifts of the possible host galaxies of these two events are acquired from the DECam Local Volume Exploration Survey (DELVE) carried out on the Blanco telescope at Cerro Tololo. The combination of the H0 posterior from GW190924$\_$021846 and GW200202$\_$154313 together with the bright siren GW170817 leads to $H_{0} = 68.84^{+15.51}_{-7.74}\, \rm {km\, s^{-1}\, Mpc^{-1}}$. Including these two dark sirens improves the 68 per cent confidence interval (CI) by 7 per cent over GW170817 alone. This demonstrates that the addition of well-localized dark sirens in such analysis improves the precision of cosmological measurements. Using a sample containing 10 well-localized dark sirens observed during the third LIGO/Virgo observation run, without the inclusion of GW170817, we determine a measurement of $H_{0} = 76.00^{+17.64}_{-13.45}\, \rm {km\, s^{-1}\, Mpc^{-1}}$.

New Active Quasi-Hilda Asteroid 2004 CV50: A Citizen Science Discovery

We report that minor planet 2004 CV50 displayed cometary activity in the form of a short, diffuse tail, first identified by volunteers of the Citizen Science program Active Asteroids, a NASA Partner program hosted on the Zooniverse online platform. The activity is present in three images, from UT 2020 February 15 and UT 2020 March 14, that were acquired with the Dark Energy Camera on the Blanco 4 m telescope at the Cerro-Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. We find that 2004 CV50 is most likely an active quasi-Hilda object rather than an active asteroid, despite 2004 CV50 having a Tisserand parameter with respect to Jupiter of 3.06.

TOI-858 B b: A hot Jupiter on a polar orbit in a loose binary

We report the discovery of a hot Jupiter on a 3.28-day orbit around a 1.08 M⊙ G0 star that is the secondary component in a loose binary system. Based on follow-up radial velocity observations of TOI-858 B with CORALIE on the Swiss 1.2 m telescope and CHIRON on the 1.5 m telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), we measured the planet mass to be 1.10−0.07+0.08 MJ. Two transits were further observed with CORALIE to determine the alignment of TOI-858 B b with respect to its host star. Analysis of the Rossiter-McLaughlin signal from the planet shows that the sky-projected obliquity is λ = 99.3−3.7+3.8°. Numerical simulations show that the neighbour star TOI-858 A is too distant to have trapped the planet in a Kozai–Lidov resonance, suggesting a different dynamical evolution or a primordial origin to explain this misalignment. The 1.15 M⊙ primary F9 star of the system (TYC 8501-01597-1, at ρ ~11″) was also observed with CORALIE in order to provide upper limits for the presence of aplanetary companion orbiting that star.

Mid-to-late M Dwarfs Lack Jupiter Analogs

Cold Jovian planets play an important role in sculpting the dynamical environment in which inner terrestrial planets form. The core accretion model predicts that giant planets cannot form around low-mass M dwarfs, although this idea has been challenged by recent planet discoveries. Here, we investigate the occurrence rate of giant planets around low-mass (0.1–0.3 M ⊙) M dwarfs. We monitor a volume-complete, inactive sample of 200 such stars located within 15 pc, collecting four high-resolution spectra of each M dwarf over six years and performing intensive follow-up monitoring of two candidate radial velocity variables. We use TRES on the 1.5 m telescope at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory and CHIRON on the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory 1.5 m telescope for our primary campaign, and MAROON-X on Gemini-North for high-precision follow up. We place a 95% confidence upper limit of 1.5% (68% confidence limit of 0.57%) on the occurrence of M P sin i > 1 M J giant planets out to the water snow line and provide additional constraints on the giant planet population as a function of M P sin i and period. Beyond the snow line (100 K < T eq < 150 K), we place 95% confidence upper limits of 1.5%, 1.7%, and 4.4% (68% confidence limits of 0.58%, 0.66%, and 1.7%) for 3 M J < M P sin i < 10 M J, 0.8 M J < M P sin i < 3 M J, and 0.3 M J < M P sin i < 0.8 M J giant planets, respectively; i.e., Jupiter analogs are rare around low-mass M dwarfs. In contrast, surveys of Sun-like stars have found that their giant planets are most common at these Jupiter-like instellations.

Cometary Activity on Quasi-Hilda Object 2018 CZ16

We present the discovery of activity originating from quasi-Hilda Object 2018 CZ16, a finding stemming from the Citizen Science project Active Asteroids. For 2018 CZ16 we identified a broad (∼60°) but short (∼5″) tail in archival Blanco 4 m data from Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, Chile, (CTIO) Dark Energy Camera images from UT 2018 May 15, 17 and 18. Activity occurred 2 months prior to perihelion, consistent with sublimation-driven activity.

New Active Asteroid (588045) 2007 FZ18

We present evidence that, on UT 2018 February 15, main-belt asteroid (588045) 2007 FZ18 displayed cometary activity in the form of two tails, one each in the anti-solar and anti-motion directions. Activity was first identified by volunteers of the NASA Partner program Active Asteroids, a Citizen Science program hosted on the Zooniverse platform, in an image acquired with the Dark Energy Camera on the Blanco 4 m telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. Notably, (588045) 2007 FZ18 is inbound toward perihelion, so telescope observations are timely to detect a possible second activity outburst.

Comet-like Activity Discovered on Quasi-Hilda Asteroid 2009 DQ118

We report evidence of comet-like activity on asteroid 2009 DQ118, a quasi-Hilda object near the 3:2 interior mean-motion resonance with Jupiter. This discovery was made by volunteers as part of the Active Asteroids Citizen Science project, a NASA Partner hosted on the Zooniverse platform. Follow-up archival searches yielded over 20 images of 2009 DQ118 exhibiting a comet-like tail on UT 2016 March 8 and 9 acquired with the Dark Energy Camera on the Blanco 4 m telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, Chile. These images were taken when 2009 DQ118 was near its 2016 perihelion passage. 2009 DQ118 will next reach perihelion on UT 2023 April 22; hence, the next several months are an excellent time to observe 2009 DQ118 to search for a second epoch of activity for this object.

The Nature of Blue Stars with Mid-infrared Excesses in the Large Magellanic Cloud

We present low-resolution optical spectra and classifications of 92 blue objects with mid-infrared excesses in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The majority of these objects were selected with the criteria of U − B < 0 and V < 17 from the potential young stellar object (YSO) candidates in Gruendl & Chu (GC09), which were identified based on Spitzer Infrared Array Camera and Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer observations in conjunction with optical photometry from the Magellanic Clouds Photometric Survey. Many of the sample objects have ambiguous classifications. We examined the properties of these 92 objects using low-resolution optical spectra obtained with the SOAR 4.1 m Telescope at Cerro Pachon and the Blanco 4 m Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, supplemented by available photometric and imaging observations. We estimated the spectral types, temperatures, and luminosities of these objects from the optical to near-IR spectral energy distributions based on the photometric data, and further examined stellar absorption line features in the optical spectra to verify the spectral types. The interstellar/circumstellar environments, assessed from nebular line imaging observations and nebular lines detected in the stellar spectra, further helped constrain the nature of stars. Among these 92 objects, we confirm 42 stars as YSOs, and the remaining 50 objects as protoplanetary nebulae, post-AGB/RGB stars, blue evolved massive stars, stars with dust in vicinity, or uncertain classifications. Our results show that the photometric criteria in GC09 are generally effective in the initial selection of YSO candidates, and the low-resolution spectroscopy combined with environment assessment can be useful to better constrain the classifications and ameliorate most ambiguities.

New Active Asteroid 2015 VA108: A Citizen Science Discovery

We announce the discovery of activity, in the form of a distinct cometary tail, emerging from main-belt asteroid 2015 VA108. Activity was first identified by volunteers of the Citizen Science project Active Asteroids (a NASA Partner). We uncovered one additional image from the same observing run which also unambiguously shows 2015 VA108 with a tail oriented between the anti-solar and anti-motion vectors that are often correlated with activity orientation on sky. Both publicly available archival images were originally acquired UT 2015 October 11 with the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the Blanco 4 m telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (Chile) as part of the Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey. Activity occurred near perihelion and, combined with its residence in the main asteroid belt, 2015 VA108 is a candidate main-belt comet, an active asteroid subset known for volatile sublimation.

Discovery of Dust Emission Activity Emanating from Main-belt Asteroid 2015 FW412

We present the discovery of activity emanating from main-belt asteroid 2015 FW412, a finding stemming from the Citizen Science project Active Asteroids, a NASA Partner program. We identified a pronounced tail originating from 2015 FW412 and oriented in the anti-motion direction in archival Blanco 4 m (Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, Chile) Dark Energy Camera images from UT 2015 April 13, 18, 19, 21 and 22. Activity occurred near perihelion, consistent with the main-belt comets (MBCs), an active asteroid subset known for sublimation-driven activity in the main asteroid belt; thus 2015 FW412 is a candidate MBC. We did not detect activity on UT 2021 December 12 using the Inamori-Magellan Areal Camera and Spectrograph on the 6.5 m Baade telescope, when 2015 FW412 was near aphelion.

The Dark Energy Camera Plane Survey 2 (DECaPS2): More Sky, Less Bias, and Better Uncertainties

Deep optical and near-infrared imaging of the entire Galactic plane is essential for understanding our Galaxy’s stars, gas, and dust. The second data release of the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) Plane Survey extends the five-band optical and near-infrared survey of the southern Galactic plane to cover 6.5% of the sky, ∣b∣ ≤ 10°, and 6° > ℓ > −124°, complementary to coverage by Pan-STARRS1. Typical single-exposure effective depths, including crowding effects and other complications, are 23.5, 22.6, 22.1, 21.6, and 20.8 mag in g, r, i, z, and Y bands, respectively, with around 1″ seeing. The survey comprises 3.32 billion objects built from 34 billion detections in 21,400 exposures, totaling 260 hr open shutter time on the DECam at Cerro Tololo. The data reduction pipeline features several improvements, including the addition of synthetic source injection tests to validate photometric solutions across the entire survey footprint. A convenient functional form for the detection bias in the faint limit was derived and leveraged to characterize the photometric pipeline performance. A new postprocessing technique was applied to every detection to debias and improve uncertainty estimates of the flux in the presence of structured backgrounds, specifically targeting nebulosity. The images and source catalogs are publicly available at http://decaps.skymaps.info/.

Photometry of the Four Anti-Galactocentric Old Open Clusters: Czernik 30, Berkeley 34, Berkeley 75, and Berkeley 76

We present a BVI photometric study of four old open clusters (OCs) in the the Milky Way, Czernik 30, Berkeley 34, Berkeley 75, and Berkeley 76 using the observation data obtained with the Small and Moderate Aperture Research Telescope System 1.0 m telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, Chile. These four OCs are located at the anti-Galactocentric direction and in the Galactic plane. We determine the fundamental physical parameters for the four OCs, such as age, metallicity, distance modulus, and color excess, using red clump and PARSEC isochrone fitting methods after finding center and size of the four OCs. These four old OCs are 2–3 Gyr old and 6–8 kpc away from the Sun. The metallicity ([Fe/H]) values of the four OCs are between −0.6 and 0.0 dex. We combine data for these four OCs with those for old OCs from five literatures resulting in 236 objects to investigate Galactic radial-metallicity distribution. The gradient of a single linear fit for this Galactocentric [Fe/H] distribution is −0.052 ± 0.004 dex kpc−1. If we assume the existence of a discontinuity in this radial-metallicity distribution, the gradient at Galactocentric radius <12 kpc is −0.070 ± 0.006 dex kpc−1, while that at the outer part is −0.016 ± 0.010 which is flatter than that of the inner part. Although there are not many sample clusters at the outer part, the broken linear fit seems to better follow the observation data.