Light Curve Fitting Research Articles

Pulsed emission from a rotating off-centred magnetic dipole in vacuum

The topology of the electromagnetic field around neutron stars severely impacts pulsar physics. While most of the works assume a standard centred dipolar magnetic field model, recently some efforts have been made to explain how inclusion of higher multipolar components could drastically change our understanding of these objects. Also, for simplicity, it has always been assumed that the magnetic moment coincides with the geometrical centre of the star. However, lately, a more general picture has been put forward in which the magnetic dipole moment is shifted off from the centre of the star. It has been demonstrated that the rotating off-centred dipole can be expanded into multipolar components. We study the effects of an off-centred rotating dipole on various characteristic emission features of pulsars in vacuum. The reliability of the off-centred case and its consequences on the magnetic field line structure, shape of the polar caps, high-energy and radio emission phase plots and corresponding light curves along with a comparison with the standard centred case are discussed. It has been seen that an off-centred dipole breaks the north–south symmetry and allows for more flexibility in radio and high-energy light-curve fitting and phase lag.

The K spectral type contact binary NSVS 1557555: Photometric solution and preliminary elements

We present the first CCD sets of complete light curves for the W Ursae Majoris system NSVS 1557555.The observations were performed in the B, V and Ic bands using the 0.25 m telescope of the Stazione Astronomica Betelgeuse Northern Italy, during 8 nights in October and November 2016.Based on our new eleven Time of Minima (ToM), and two recent ones found in bibliography, the short orbital period of the system is confirmed and revised to P = 0.2725163 days .A reasonable fit of the synthetic light curves of the data indicate that NSVS 1557555 is a late-type (K1+K3) shallow contact binary system of W-Subtype of the W Ursae Majoris systems, with a mass ratio of q = 1.8, a degree of contact factor f = 12.5%, a temperature difference between the components of 240K and inclination i = 85°.The light curves show asymmetries at the maxima with the maximum at phase 0.75 higher the other one (inverse O’Connell effect).To explain the light asymmetries we used a model that involves an hot spotted region on the surface of the cooler star.The definitive solution is only possible with a large amount of third light (L3 = 0.58 in B Filter). It may come from a hot tertiary component.The absolute dimensions of the system are estimated. From the logM-logL diagram it is seen that both components of NSVS 1557555 follow the general pattern of the W subtype W Ursae Majoris systems.The orbital angular momentum is compared with those of other W UMa type binaries and is normal.

The Type Ia Supernova Color–Magnitude Relation and Host Galaxy Dust: A Simple Hierarchical Bayesian Model

Abstract Conventional Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) cosmology analyses currently use a simplistic linear regression of magnitude versus color and light curve shape, which does not model intrinsic SN Ia variations and host galaxy dust as physically distinct effects, resulting in low color–magnitude slopes. We construct a probabilistic generative model for the dusty distribution of extinguished absolute magnitudes and apparent colors as the convolution of an intrinsic SN Ia color–magnitude distribution and a host galaxy dust reddening–extinction distribution. If the intrinsic color–magnitude (M B versus B − V) slope differs from the host galaxy dust law R B , this convolution results in a specific curve of mean extinguished absolute magnitude versus apparent color. The derivative of this curve smoothly transitions from in the blue tail to R B in the red tail of the apparent color distribution. The conventional linear fit approximates this effective curve near the average apparent color, resulting in an apparent slope between and R B . We incorporate these effects into a hierarchical Bayesian statistical model for SN Ia light curve measurements, and analyze a data set of SALT2 optical light curve fits of 248 nearby SNe Ia at . The conventional linear fit gives . Our model finds and a distinct dust law of , consistent with the average for Milky Way dust, while correcting a systematic distance bias of ∼0.10 mag in the tails of the apparent color distribution. Finally, we extend our model to examine the SN Ia luminosity–host mass dependence in terms of intrinsic and dust components.

The first photometric investigation and orbital period variation analysis of the W UMa type binary IK Bootis

Abstract With new CCD observations of the W UMa type binary IK Boo, we present the first investigation of photometric parameters and orbital period change. The BVRc light curve fit shows that IK Boo is a W-type contact system with a mass ratio of q = 1.146 and a shallow contact with a fill-out factor of f = 2.22%. The orbital period decrease was found to be a rate of −3.28 × 10−7 d yr−1, corresponding to a mass transfer from the more massive to the less massive component with a rate of −2.83 × 10−6 M⊙ yr−1. The inner and outer critical Roche lobes will contract and cause the contact degree to increase. Therefore, IK Boo may evolve into a deeper contact system. Furthermore, a possible cyclic variation was found with a period of 9.74 yr, which could be explained by the light-travel time effect due to the existence of a third companion in the system.

Bayesian comparison of nonstandard cosmologies using type Ia supernovae and BAO data

We use the most recent type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) observations to perform a statistical comparison between the standard $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}\mathrm{CDM}$ model and its extensions [$w\mathrm{CDM}$ and $w(z)\mathrm{CDM}$] and some alternative cosmologies: namely, the Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati (DGP) model, a power-law $f(R)$ scenario in the metric formalism and an example of vacuum decay [$\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}(t)\mathrm{CDM}$] cosmology in which the dilution of pressureless matter is attenuated with respect to the usual ${a}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$ scaling due to the interaction of the dark matter and dark energy fields. We perform a Bayesian model selection analysis using the MultiNest algorithm. To obtain the posterior distribution for the parameters of each model, we use the joint light-curve analysis (JLA) SNe Ia compilation containing 740 events in the interval $0.01<z<1.3$ along with current measurements of baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO). The JLA data are analyzed with the SALT2 light-curve fitter and the model selection is then performed by computing the Bayesian evidence of each model and the Bayes factor of the $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}\mathrm{CDM}$ cosmology related to the other models. The results indicate that the JLA data alone are unable to distinguish the standard $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}\mathrm{CDM}$ model from some of its alternatives but its combination with current measurements of baryon acoustic oscillations shows up an ability to distinguish them. In particular, the DGP model is practically not supported by both the BAO and the joint $\mathrm{JLA}+\mathrm{BAO}$ data sets compared to the standard scenario. Finally, we provide a rank order for the models considered.

Gaia eclipsing binary and multiple systems. A study of detectability and classification of eclipsing binaries with Gaia

In the new era of large-scale astronomical surveys, automated methods of analysis and classification of bulk data are a fundamental tool for fast and efficient production of deliverables. This becomes ever more imminent as we enter the Gaia era. We investigate the potential detectability of eclipsing binaries with Gaia using a data set of all Kepler eclipsing binaries sampled with Gaia cadence and folded with the Kepler period. The performance of fitting methods is evaluated with comparison to real Kepler data parameters and a classification scheme is proposed for the potentially detectable sources based on the geometry of the light curve fits. The polynomial chain (polyfit) and two-Gaussian models are used for light curve fitting of the data set. Classification is performed with a combination of the t-SNE (t-distrubuted Stochastic Neighbor Embedding) and DBSCAN (Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise) algorithms. We find that approximately 68% of Kepler Eclipsing Binary sources are potentially detectable by Gaia when folded with the Kepler period and propose a classification scheme of the detectable sources based on the morphological type indicative of the light curve, with subclasses that reflect the properties of the fitted model (presence and visibility of eclipses, their width, depth, etc.).

A Radio Emission Analysis of Classical Nova V351 Pup (1991)

Abstract Previously, Nova Puppis 1991 (V351 Pup) was measured to host one of the most massive ejections claimed in the literature. Multi-frequency radio detections from one epoch were published for this nova in the 1990's; and yet, the remaining data collected by the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) have remained unpublished. In this paper, we analyze the remaining unpublished data sets for V351 Pup at frequencies of 4.9, 8.4, 14.9, and 22.5 GHz. We fit the resulting light curve to a model of expanding thermal ejecta, under the assumption that the radio emission is dominated by free–free radiation and accounting for high levels of clumping in the ejecta. Images of V351 Pup in both the radio (from the VLA) and Hα+[N ii] (from Hubble Space Telescope) exhibit no aspherical structure, strengthening our assumption of spherical symmetry. From expansion parallax methods, we estimate the distance to V351 Pup to be 5.0 ± 1.5 kpc. Our light-curve fit yields a value of for the ejecta mass, implying that V351 Pup is on the low end of expectations for ejecta mass from classical novae. A comparison between our derived ejecta mass and theoretical models gives evidence for a very massive (1.25 ) white dwarf, which is consistent with spectroscopic evidence for an oxygen–neon white dwarf.

Machine-learned Identification of RR Lyrae Stars from Sparse, Multi-band Data: The PS1 Sample

Abstract RR Lyrae stars may be the best practical tracers of Galactic halo (sub-)structure and kinematics. The PanSTARRS1 (PS1) 3 π survey offers multi-band, multi-epoch, precise photometry across much of the sky, but a robust identification of RR Lyrae stars in this data set poses a challenge, given PS1's sparse, asynchronous multi-band light curves ( ≲ 12 epochs in each of five bands, taken over a 4.5 year period). We present a novel template fitting technique that uses well-defined and physically motivated multi-band light curves of RR Lyrae stars, and demonstrate that we get accurate period estimates, precise to 2 s in > 80 % of cases. We augment these light-curve fits with other features from photometric time-series and provide them to progressively more detailed machine-learned classification models. From these models, we are able to select the widest (three-fourths of the sky) and deepest (reaching 120 kpc) sample of RR Lyrae stars to date. The PS1 sample of ∼45,000 RRab stars is pure (90%) and complete (80% at 80 kpc) at high galactic latitudes. It also provides distances that are precise to 3%, measured with newly derived period–luminosity relations for optical/near-infrared PS1 bands. With the addition of proper motions from Gaia and radial velocity measurements from multi-object spectroscopic surveys, we expect the PS1 sample of RR Lyrae stars to become the premier source for studying the structure, kinematics, and the gravitational potential of the Galactic halo. The techniques presented in this study should translate well to other sparse, multi-band data sets, such as those produced by the Dark Energy Survey and the upcoming Large Synoptic Survey Telescope Galactic plane sub-survey.

Absolute Dimensions of the Eccentric Eclipsing Binary V541 Cygni

Abstract We report new spectroscopic and photometric observations of the main-sequence, detached, eccentric, double-lined eclipsing binary V541 Cyg (P = 15.34 days, e = 0.468). Using these observations together with existing measurements, we determine the component masses and radii to better than 1% precision: , , , and . The nearly identical B9.5 stars have estimated effective temperatures of 10650 ± 200 K and 10350 ± 200 K. A comparison of these properties with current stellar evolution models shows excellent agreement at an age of about 190 Myr and [Fe/H] ≈ −0.18. Both components are found to be rotating at the pseudo-synchronous rate. The system displays a slow periastron advance that is dominated by general relativity (GR), and has previously been claimed to be slower than predicted by theory. Our new measurement, deg century−1, has an 88% contribution from GR and agrees with the expected rate within the uncertainties. We also clarify the use of the gravity darkening coefficients in the light-curve fitting Eclipsing Binary Orbit Program (EBOP), a version of which we use here.

ASTROIMAGEJ: IMAGE PROCESSING AND PHOTOMETRIC EXTRACTION FOR ULTRA-PRECISE ASTRONOMICAL LIGHT CURVES

ABSTRACT ImageJ is a graphical user interface (GUI) driven, public domain, Java-based, software package for general image processing traditionally used mainly in life sciences fields. The image processing capabilities of ImageJ are useful and extendable to other scientific fields. Here we present AstroImageJ (AIJ), which provides an astronomy specific image display environment and tools for astronomy specific image calibration and data reduction. Although AIJ maintains the general purpose image processing capabilities of ImageJ, AIJ is streamlined for time-series differential photometry, light curve detrending and fitting, and light curve plotting, especially for applications requiring ultra-precise light curves (e.g., exoplanet transits). AIJ reads and writes standard Flexible Image Transport System (FITS) files, as well as other common image formats, provides FITS header viewing and editing, and is World Coordinate System aware, including an automated interface to the astrometry.net web portal for plate solving images. AIJ provides research grade image calibration and analysis tools with a GUI driven approach, and easily installed cross-platform compatibility. It enables new users, even at the level of undergraduate student, high school student, or amateur astronomer, to quickly start processing, modeling, and plotting astronomical image data with one tightly integrated software package.

The VMC survey – XXIII. Model fitting of light and radial velocity curves of Small Magellanic Cloud classical Cepheids

We present the results of the χ2 minimization model fitting technique applied to optical and near-infrared photometric and radial velocity data for a sample of nine fundamental and three first overtone classical Cepheids in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). The near-infrared photometry (JK filters) was obtained by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) public survey ‘VISTA near-infrared Y, J, Ks survey of the Magellanic Clouds system’ (VMC). For each pulsator, isoperiodic model sequences have been computed by adopting a non-linear convective hydrodynamical code in order to reproduce the multifilter light and (when available) radial velocity curve amplitudes and morphological details. The inferred individual distances provide an intrinsic mean value for the SMC distance modulus of 19.01 mag and a standard deviation of 0.08 mag, in agreement with the literature. Moreover, the intrinsic masses and luminosities of the best-fitting model show that all these pulsators are brighter than the canonical evolutionary mass–luminosity relation (MLR), suggesting a significant efficiency of core overshooting and/or mass-loss. Assuming that the inferred deviation from the canonical MLR is only due to mass-loss, we derive the expected distribution of percentage mass-loss as a function of both the pulsation period and the canonical stellar mass. Finally, a good agreement is found between the predicted mean radii and current period–radius (PR) relations in the SMC available in the literature. The results of this investigation support the predictive capabilities of the adopted theoretical scenario and pave the way for the application to other extensive data bases at various chemical compositions, including the VMC Large Magellanic Cloud pulsators and Galactic Cepheids with Gaia parallaxes.

The effect of an offset polar cap dipolar magnetic field on the modeling of the Vela pulsar's γ-ray light curves.

We performed geometric pulsar light curve modeling using static, retarded vacuum, and offset polar cap (PC) dipole B-fields (the latter is characterized by a parameter ε), in conjunction with standard two-pole caustic (TPC) and outer gap (OG) emission geometries. The offset-PC dipole B-field mimics deviations from the static dipole (which corresponds to ε = 0). In addition to constant-emissivity geometric models, we also considered a slot gap (SG) E-field associated with the offset-PC dipole B-field and found that its inclusion leads to qualitatively different light curves. Solving the particle transport equation shows that the particle energy only becomes large enough to yield significant curvature radiation at large altitudes above the stellar surface, given this relatively low E-field. Therefore, particles do not always attain the radiation-reaction limit. Our overall optimal light curve fit is for the retarded vacuum dipole field and OG model, at an inclination angle [Formula: see text] and observer angle [Formula: see text]. For this B-field, the TPC model is statistically disfavored compared to the OG model. For the static dipole field, neither model is significantly preferred. We found that smaller values of ε are favored for the offset-PC dipole field when assuming constant emissivity, and larger ε values favored for variable emissivity, but not significantly so. When multiplying the SG E-field by a factor of 100, we found improved light curve fits, with α and ζ being closer to best fits from independent studies, as well as curvature radiation reaction at lower altitudes.

THE FIRST CIRCUMBINARY PLANET FOUND BY MICROLENSING: OGLE-2007-BLG-349L(AB)c

ABSTRACT We present the analysis of the first circumbinary planet microlensing event, OGLE-2007-BLG-349. This event has a strong planetary signal that is best fit with a mass ratio of q ≈ 3.4 × 10−4, but there is an additional signal due to an additional lens mass, either another planet or another star. We find acceptable light-curve fits with two classes of models: two-planet models (with a single host star) and circumbinary planet models. The light curve also reveals a significant microlensing parallax effect, which constrains the mass of the lens system to be M L ≈ 0.7 . Hubble Space Telescope (HST) images resolve the lens and source stars from their neighbors and indicate excess flux due to the star(s) in the lens system. This is consistent with the predicted flux from the circumbinary models, where the lens mass is shared between two stars, but there is not enough flux to be consistent with the two-planet, one-star models. So, only the circumbinary models are consistent with the HST data. They indicate a planet of mass m c = 80 ± 13 , orbiting a pair of M dwarfs with masses of M A = 0.41 ± 0.07 and M B = 0.30 ± 0.07, which makes this the lowest-mass circumbinary planet system known. The ratio of the separation between the planet and the center of mass to the separation of the two stars is ∼40, so unlike most of the circumbinary planets found by Kepler, the planet does not orbit near the stability limit.

The newly discovered eclipsing cataclysmic star 2MASS J16211735 + 4412541 and its peculiarity

We present our observations of the newly discovered, eclipsing cataclysmic star 2MASS J16211735 + 4412541 carried out two weeks after its outburst at the beginning of June 2016. Its main peculiarity is the big increasing of eclipse depth during outburst. We qualitatively modelled the folded light curves at quiescence and outburst in order to explain the reason for increase of the primary luminosity about two hundred times. The light curve fits revealed that such an effect can be reproduced by a flat disc whose radius and temperature are several times bigger than those of the primary at quiescence.

Determining the parameters of high amplification microlensing events by means of statistical machine learning techniques

AbstractStrong gravitational microlensing (GM) events provide us a possibility to determine both the parameters of microlensed source and microlens. GM can be an important clue to understand the nature of dark matter on comparably small spatial and mass scales (i.e. substructure), especially when speaking about the combination of astrometrical and photometrical data about high amplification microlensing events (HAME). In the same time, fitting of HAME lightcurves of microlensed sources is quite time-consuming process. That is why we test here the possibility to apply the statistical machine learning techniques to determine the source and microlens parameters for the set of HAME lightcurves, using the simulated set of amplification curves of sources microlensed by point masses and clumps of DM with various density profiles.

STUDY OF GRB LIGHT-CURVE DECAY INDICES IN THE AFTERGLOW PHASE

ABSTRACT In this work, we study the distribution of temporal power-law decay indices, α, in the gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglow phase, fitted for 176 GRBs (139 long GRBs, 12 short GRBs with extended emission, and 25 X-ray flashes) with known redshifts. These indices are compared with the temporal decay index, α W , derived with the light-curve fitting using the Willingale et al. model. This model fitting yields similar distributions of α W to the fitted α, but for individual bursts a difference can be significant. Analysis of (α, L a ) distribution, where L a is the characteristic luminosity at the end of the plateau, reveals only a weak correlation of these quantities. However, we discovered a significant regular trend when studying GRB α values along the Dainotti et al. correlation between L a and the end time of the plateau emission in the rest frame, , hereafter LT correlation. We note a systematic variation of the α parameter distribution with luminosity for any selected . We analyze this systematics with respect to the fitted LT correlation line, expecting that the presented trend may allow us to constrain the GRB physical models. We also attempted to use the derived correlation of versus to diminish the luminosity scatter related to the variations of α along the LT distribution, a step forward in the effort of standardizing GRBs. A proposed toy model accounting for this systematics applied to the analyzed GRB distribution results in a slight increase of the LT correlation coefficient.

Determining H 0 using a model-independent method

By using type Ia supernovae (SNIa) to provide the luminosity distance (LD) directly, which depends on the value of the Hubble constant $H_0= 100 h\; {\rm km\; s^{-1}\; Mpc^{-1}}$, and the angular diameter distance from galaxy clusters or baryon acoustic oscillations (BAOs) to give the derived LD according to the distance duality relation, we propose a model-independent method to determine $h$ from the fact that different observations should give the same LD at a given redshift. Combining the Sloan Digital Sky Survey II (SDSS-II) SNIa from the MLCS2k2 light curve fit and galaxy cluster data, we find that at the $1\sigma$ confidence level (CL), $h=0.5867\pm0.0303$ for the sample of the elliptical $\beta$ model for galaxy clusters, and $h=0.6199\pm0.0293$ for that of the spherical $\beta$ model. The former is smaller than the values from other observations, whereas the latter is consistent with the Planck result at the $2\sigma$ CL and agrees very well with the value reconstructed directly from the $H(z)$ data. With the SDSS-II SNIa and BAO measurements, a tighter constraint, $h=0.6683\pm0.0221$, is obtained. For comparison, we also consider the Union 2.1 SNIa from the SALT2 light curve fitting. The results from the Union 2.1 SNIa are slightly larger than those from the SDSS-II SNIa, and the Union 2.1 SNIa + BAOs give the tightest value. We find that the values from SNIa + BAOs are quite consistent with those from the Planck and the BAOs, as well as the local measurement from Cepheids and very-low-redshift SNIa.

Impacts of different SNLS3 light-curve fitters on cosmological consequences of interacting dark energy models

We explore the cosmological consequences of interacting dark energy (IDE) models using the SNLS3 supernova samples. In particular, we focus on the impacts of different SNLS3 light-curve fitters (LCF) (corresponding to "SALT2", "SiFTO", and "Combined" sample). Firstly, making use of the three SNLS3 data sets, as well as the Planck distance priors data and the galaxy clustering data, we constrain the parameter spaces of three IDE models. Then, we study the cosmic evolutions of Hubble parameter $H(z)$, deceleration diagram $q(z)$, statefinder hierarchy $S^{(1)}_3(z)$ and $S^{(1)}_4(z)$, and check whether or not these dark energy diagnosis can distinguish the differences among the results of different SNLS3 LCF. At last, we perform high redshift cosmic age test using three old high redshift objects (OHRO), and explore the fate of the Universe. We find that, the impacts of different SNLS3 LCF are rather small, and can not be distinguished by using $H(z)$, $q(z)$, $S^{(1)}_3(z)$, $S^{(1)}_4(z)$, and the age data of OHRO. In addition, we infer, from the current observations, how far we are from a cosmic doomsday in the worst case, and find that the "Combined" sample always gives the largest 2$\sigma$ lower limit of the time interval between "big rip" and today, while the results given by the "SALT2" and the "SiFTO" sample are close to each other. These conclusions are insensitive to a specific form of dark sector interaction. Our method can be used to distinguish the differences among various cosmological observations.

Sampling the probability distribution of Type Ia Supernova lightcurve parameters in cosmological analysis

In order to obtain robust cosmological constraints from Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) data, we have applied Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) to SN Ia lightcurve fitting. We develop a method for sampling the resultant probability density distributions (pdf) of the SN Ia lightcuve parameters in the MCMC likelihood analysis to constrain cosmological parameters, and validate it using simulated data sets. Applying this method to the Joint Lightcurve Analysis (JLA) data set of SNe Ia, we find that sampling the SN Ia lightcurve parameter pdf's leads to cosmological parameters closer to that of a flat Universe with a cosmological constant, compared to the usual practice of using only the best fit values of the SN Ia lightcurve parameters. Our method will be useful in the use of SN Ia data for precision cosmology.

Constructing a cosmological model-independent Hubble diagram of type Ia supernovae with cosmic chronometers

We apply two methods, namely the Gaussian processes and the non-parametric smoothing procedure, to reconstruct the Hubble parameter $H(z)$ as a function of redshift from 15 measurements of the expansion rate obtained from age estimates of passively evolving galaxies. These reconstructions enable us to derive the luminosity distance to a certain redshift $z$, calibrate the light-curve fitting parameters accounting for the (unknown) intrinsic magnitude of type Ia supernova (SNe Ia) and construct cosmological model-independent Hubble diagrams of SNe Ia. In order to test the compatibility between the reconstructed functions of $H(z)$, we perform a statistical analysis considering the latest SNe Ia sample, the so-called JLA compilation. We find that, for the Gaussian processes, the reconstructed functions of Hubble parameter versus redshift, and thus the following analysis on SNe Ia calibrations and cosmological implications, are sensitive to prior mean functions. However, for the non-parametric smoothing method, the reconstructed functions are not dependent on initial guess models, and consistently require high values of $H_0$, which are in excellent agreement with recent measurements of this quantity from Cepheids and other local distance indicators.