Galactic Latitude Research Articles

Quantifying interstellar extinction at high galactic latitudes

Abstract A detailed map of the distribution of dust at high Galactic latitudes is essential for future cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization experiments because the dust, while diffuse, remains a significant foreground in these regions. We develop a Bayesian model to identify a region of the Hertzsprung-Russell (HR) diagram suited to constrain the single-star extinction accurately at high Galactic latitudes. Using photometry from Gaia, 2MASS and ALLWISE, and parallax from Gaia, we employ nested sampling to fit the model to the data and analyse the posterior over stellar parameters for both synthetic and real data. Charting low variations in extinction is complex due to systematic errors and degeneracies between extinction and other stellar parameters. The systematic errors can be minimised by restricting our data to a region of the HR diagram where the stellar models are most accurate. Moreover, the degeneracies can be reduced by including astrophysical priors and spectroscopic constraints. We show that accounting for the measurement error of the data and the assumed inaccuracies of the stellar models are critical in accurately recovering small variations in extinction. We compare the posterior distribution for individual stars with spectroscopic stellar parameter estimates from LAMOST and Gaia ESO and illustrate the importance of estimating extinction and effective temperature as a joint solution.

A two-minute burst of highly polarised radio emission originating from low Galactic latitude

A two-minute burst of highly polarised radio emission originating from low Galactic latitude

Identification and Distance Measurement of Dust Clouds at High Latitude by a Clustering Hierarchical Algorithm

We present a catalog of dust clouds at high Galactic latitude based on the Planck 857 GHz dust emission data. Using a clustering hierarchical algorithm, 315 dust clouds at high Galactic latitudes are identified. Additionally, using the optical and ultraviolet extinction of 4 million and 1 million stars, respectively, provided by Sun et al., we derive the distances and physical properties for 190 high Galactic latitude dust clouds and the ultraviolet excess ratios for 165 of them. Through the study of color excess ratios, this work confirms that molecular clouds with large Galactic distances and low extinction likely have a higher proportion of small-sized dust grains. In addition, clouds with well-defined distances in the catalog are used to trace the Local Bubble, showing good consistency with the boundary of the Local Bubble from the literature.

Local H i absorption towards the magellanic cloud foreground using ASKAP

ABSTRACT We present the largest Galactic neutral hydrogen H i absorption survey to date, utilizing the Australian SKA Pathfinder Telescope at an unprecedented spatial resolution of 30 arcsec. This survey, GASKAP-H i, unbiasedly targets 2714 continuum background sources over 250 square degrees in the direction of the Magellanic Clouds, a significant increase compared to a total of 373 sources observed by previous Galactic absorption surveys across the entire Milky Way. We aim to investigate the physical properties of cold (CNM) and warm (WNM) neutral atomic gas in the Milky Way foreground, characterized by two prominent filaments at high Galactic latitudes (between $-45^{\circ }$ and $-25^{\circ }$). We detected strong H i absorption along 462 lines of sight above the 3$\sigma$ threshold, achieving an absorption detection rate of 17 per cent. GASKAP-H i’s unprecedented angular resolution allows for simultaneous absorption and emission measurements to sample almost the same gas clouds along a line of sight. A joint Gaussian decomposition is then applied to absorption-emission spectra to provide direct estimates of H i optical depths, temperatures, and column densities for the CNM and WNM components. The thermal properties of CNM components are consistent with those previously observed along a wide range of Solar neighbourhood environments, indicating that cold H i properties are widely prevalent throughout the local interstellar medium. Across our region of interest, CNM accounts for $\sim$30 per cent of the total H i gas, with the CNM fraction increasing with column density towards the two filaments. Our analysis reveals an anticorrelation between CNM temperature and its optical depth, which implies that CNM with lower optical depth leads to a higher temperature.

The SRG/eROSITA diffuse soft X-ray background

Context. The SRG/eROSITA All-Sky Surveys (eRASSs) combine the advantages of complete sky coverage and the energy resolution provided by the charge couple device and offer the most holistic and detailed view of the diffuse soft X-ray background (SXRB) to date. The first eRASS (eRASSl) was completed at solar minimum, when solar wind charge exchange emission was minimal, providing the clearest view of the SXRB. Aims. We aim to extract spatial and spectral information from each constituent of the SXRB in the western Galactic hemisphere, focusing on the local hot bubble (LHB). Methods. We extracted and analysed eRASSl spectra from almost all directions in the western Galactic hemisphere by dividing the sky into equal signal-to-noise bins. We fitted all bins with fixed spectral templates of known background constituents. Results. We find the temperature of the LHB exhibits a north-south dichotomy at high latitudes (|b| > 30°), with the south being hotter, with a mean temperature at kT = 121.8 ± 0.6 eV and the north at kT = 100.8 ± 0.5 eV. At low latitudes, the LHB temperature increases towards the Galactic plane, especially towards the inner Galaxy. The LHB emission measure (EMLHB) enhances approximately towards the Galactic poles. The EMLHB map shows clear anti-correlation with the local dust column density. In particular, we found tunnels of dust cavities filled with hot plasma, potentially forming a wider network of hot interstellar medium. We also constructed a three-dimensional LHB model from EMLHB, assuming constant density. The average thermal pressure of the LHB is Pthermal/k = 10100−1500+1200 cm−3 K, a lower value than typical supernova remnants and wind-blown bubbles. This could be an indication of the LHB being open towards high Galactic latitudes.

Neural network reconstruction of density and velocity fields from the 2MASS Redshift Survey

Aims. Our aim is to reconstruct the 3D matter density and peculiar velocity fields in the local Universe up to a distance of 200 h−1 Mpc from the Two-Micron All-Sky Redshift Survey (2MRS) using a neural network (NN). Methods. We employed an NN with a U-net autoencoder architecture and a weighted mean squared error loss function trained separately to output either the density or velocity field for a given input grid of galaxy number counts. The NN was trained on mocks derived from the Quijote N-body simulations, incorporating redshift-space distortions (RSDs), galaxy bias, and selection effects closely mimicking the characteristics of 2MRS. The trained NN was benchmarked against a standard Wiener filter (WF) on a validation set of mocks before applying it to 2MRS. Results. The NN reconstructions effectively approximate the mean posterior estimate of the true density and velocity fields conditioned on the observations. They consistently outperform the WF in terms of reconstruction accuracy and effectively capture the nonlinear relation between velocity and density. The NN-reconstructed bulk flow of the total survey volume exhibits a significant correlation with the true mock bulk flow, demonstrating that the NN is sensitive to information on “super-survey” scales encoded in the RSDs. When applied to 2MRS, the NN successfully recovers the main known clusters, some of which are partially in the Zone of Avoidance. The reconstructed bulk flows in spheres of different radii less than 100 h−1 Mpc are in good agreement with a previous 2MRS analysis that required an additional external bulk flow component inferred from directly observed peculiar velocities. The NN-reconstructed peculiar velocity of the Local Group closely matches the observed Cosmic Microwave Background dipole in amplitude and Galactic latitude, and only deviates by 18° in longitude. The NN-reconstructed fields are publicly available.

H i Kinematics and the E(B − V)/N(H i) Ratio

The λ21 cm H i emission that is used to trace the gas-to-dust ratio at high Galactic latitudes has contributions from material beyond the Milky Way disk, with uncertain and likely subsolar metallicity and dust content. These contributions can be isolated kinematically and their presence is clear for sightlines with small mean reddening 〈E(B − V)〉 ≲ 0.03 mag, which have mean ratios 〈N(H i)〉/〈E(B − V)〉 that are 20%–50% above the high-latitude Galactic average 〈N(H i)〉/〈E(B − V)〉 = 8.3 × 1021 cm−2 mag−1. By mapping N(H i) and E(B − V) across H i high-velocity cloud complexes and the Magellanic Clouds, we show that the reddening of this kinematically isolated gas is on average 5 times smaller per H i than the high-latitude average. However, the aggregate contribution of this gas is small and 〈N(H i)〉/〈E(B − V)〉 = 8.3 × 1021 cm−2 mag−1 is the appropriate value for Galactic gas seen at high latitude using the H i and reddening measures employed here and in our previous work.

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.

Host Galaxies for Four Nearby CHIME/FRB Sources and the Local Universe FRB Host Galaxy Population

We present the host galaxies of four apparently nonrepeating fast radio bursts (FRBs), FRB 20181223C, FRB 20190418A, FRB 20191220A, and FRB 20190425A, reported in the first Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME/FRB) catalog. Our selection of these FRBs is based on a planned hypothesis testing framework where we search all CHIME/FRB Catalog-1 events that have low extragalactic dispersion measure (<100 pc cm−3), with high Galactic latitude (∣b∣ > 10°) and saved baseband data. We associate the selected FRBs with galaxies with moderate to high star formation rates located at redshifts between 0.027 and 0.071. We also search for possible multimessenger counterparts, including persistent compact radio and gravitational-wave sources, and find none. Utilizing the four FRB hosts from this study, along with the hosts of 14 published local Universe FRBs (z < 0.1) with robust host association, we conduct an FRB host demographics analysis. We find all 18 local Universe FRB hosts in our sample to be spirals (or late-type galaxies), including the host of FRB 20220509G, which was previously reported to be elliptical. Using this observation, we scrutinize proposed FRB source formation channels and argue that core-collapse supernovae are likely the dominant channel to form FRB sources. Moreover, we infer no significant difference in the host properties of repeating and apparently nonrepeating FRBs in our local Universe FRB host sample. Finally, we find the burst rates of these four apparently nonrepeating FRBs to be consistent with those of the sample of localized repeating FRBs observed by CHIME/FRB. Therefore, we encourage further monitoring of these FRBs with more sensitive radio telescopes.

The digitized First Byurakan Survey database. New carbon stars confirmed

Some amount of the new carbon ( C ) stars was confirmed among the sample of the Late-Type Stars (LTSs) candidates, selected on the Digitized First Byurakan Survey (DFBS) spectral plates. The DFBS is the digitized version of the First Byurakan Survey (FBS, or Markarian survey). The FBS was the first systematic survey of the extragalactic sky. This objective-prism survey was carried out in 1965- 1980 by B. E. Markarian and colleagues using the 1 m Schmidt telescope of the Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory. In this work we present Gaia DR3 photometric data, spectra, light curves, distances, high above/below Galactic plane, radial velocities (RV), and other important physical characteristics from modern astronomical catalogues for some amount new confirmed DFBS carbon stars. The confirmation is based on Gaia DR3 BP/RP low-resolution spectral database. In previous studies of the DFBS plates, these objects were presented as LTSs candidates. Some objects are located more than 7 kpc from the Galactic plane. Four of them are N-type C stars, from which two are Mira-type variables. The remaining objects are CH-type giants at high Galactic latitudes. Most probably they present binary systems.

The Digitized First Byurakan Survey Database. Late-type stars candidates. New confirmations

More than 3000 Late-Type Stars (LTS) candidates was confirmed among the sample, selected on the Digitized First Byurakan Survey (DFBS) spectral plates. The DFBS is the digitized version of the First Byurakan Survey (FBS, or Markarian survey). This objective-prism survey was carried out in 1965- 1980 by B. E. Markarian and colleagues using the 1 m Schmidt telescope of the Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory (BAO). FBS spectral plates have been used long period to search and study faint LTS (Ctype (carbon) and M-type) stars at high Galactic latitudes. Thousands of objects was confirmed as LTS. The confirmation is based on Gaia DR3 BP/RP low-resolution spectral database. In previous studies of the DFBS plates, these objects were presented as LTS candidates. Some objects are located more than 10 kpc. The predominant part of the new confirmed objects are M dwarfs.

“Forbidden” stars in the eROSITA all-sky survey: X-ray emission from very late-type giants

We present the results of the first X-ray all-sky survey (eRASS1) performed by the eROSITA instrument aboard the Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma (SRG) mission on X-ray emitting red giants and supergiants. Focusing on stars positioned at high galactic latitudes above 20°, we constructed a complete sample of such objects using the Gaia DR3 catalog and identified a sample 96 stars that appear as bona fide entries in the eRASS1 source catalog. By again restricting the sample to objects nearer than 1300 pc and eliminating all catalog entries that are due to optical contamination, we ended up with a sample of 16 genuine red giant or supergiant X-ray sources, most of which represent new X-ray detections. We present a low signal-to-noise X-ray spectrum of the nearby low-activity giant Arcturus obtained from a pointed observation with the XMM-Newton satellite and give a detailed account of our data analysis. We show that Arcturus-like X-ray emission cannot be the explanation for the X-ray emissions observed by eROSITA and provide a discussion of the possible nature of the detected X-ray sources.

Galactic Cirri at High Galactic Latitudes. I. Investigating Scatter in Slopes between Optical and Far-infrared Intensities

Based on the slopes between DESI g, r and Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) 100 μm intensities, specifically k g and k r , we have constructed a substantial sample of Galactic cirri. This sample covers 561.25 deg2 at high Galactic latitudes (∣b∣ ≥ 30°), allowing for a systematic study of the physical parameters of the Galactic cirrus on a large scale, such as g − r color, dust temperature, asymmetry factor, and albedo. The ratio of k g and k r is consistent with the diffuse Galactic starlight model, suggesting that the diffuse starlight within our own Galaxy serves as the primary illumination source for the cirrus. Both k g and k r decrease slowly with increasing Galactic latitudes and IRAS 100 μm intensities, while they do not have a correlation with Galactic longitudes. The distribution of k g and k r confirms a significant scatter in the slopes, reaching a factor of 4–5. Such large scatter cannot be explained by the weak correlation between the slopes and Galactic latitudes and IRAS 100 μm intensities. Instead, it is attributed to substantial variations in the intrinsic properties of the dust, e.g., asymmetry factor and albedo. We propose that the properties of dust particles play a critical role in the observed scatter in slopes, making them the primary contributing factors. Moreover, the variations in dust properties within the cirrus are localized rather than exhibiting large-scale gradients.

The Plane Quasar Survey: First Data Release

We present a sample of 305 QSO candidates having ∣b∣ < 30°, the majority with GALEX magnitudes near-UV < 18.75. To generate this sample, we apply UV–IR color selection criteria to photometric data from the Ultraviolet Galactic Plane Survey as part of GALEX-CAUSE, the Million Quasars Catalog, Gaia DR2, and Pan-STARRS DR1. 165 of these 305 candidate UV-bright active galactic nuclei (AGN; 54%) have published spectroscopic redshifts from 45 different surveys, confirming them as AGN. We further obtained low-dispersion, optical, long-slit spectra with the Apache Point Observatory 3.5 m, MDM 2.4 m, and MDM 1.3 m telescopes for 84 of the candidates, and confirm 86% (N = 72) as AGN, generally with z < 0.6. Of these 72 confirmed AGN, 25 are newly discovered low-latitude QSOs without any previous spectroscopy. These sources fill a gap in the Galactic latitude coverage of the available samples of known UV-bright QSO background probes. Along with a description of the confirmed QSO properties, we provide the fully reduced, flux- and wavelength-calibrated spectra of 72 low-latitude QSOs through the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes. Future Hubble Space Telescope/Cosmic Origins Spectrograph spectroscopy of these low-Galactic-latitude QSOs has the potential to transform our view of the Milky Way and Local Group circumgalactic medium.

Analysis of Gaia DR3 Data of Selected High Galactic Latitude Hα Emission Stars

Gaia DR3 data of 52 high galactic latitude Hα emission stars selected from the paper of Stephenson are analyzed. Ten new variable stars and eight new high velocity stars have been found. Details of six post-AGB stars and several other interesting stars are discussed. Many of the stars presented in this paper have Gaia DR3 light curves and spectra. A detailed study of these 52 stars is needed to derive their chemical composition and to further understand their binarity, circumstellar matter and evolutionary status. The astrophysical parameters from the Gaia DR3 data reveal several hot (OBA) and several F and G-type stars in this sample. Some of them are metal-poor stars.

SRG/eROSITA 3D mapping of the interstellar medium using X-ray absorption spectroscopy

We present a detailed study of the hydrogen density distribution in the local interstellar medium (ISM) using the X-ray absorption technique. Hydrogen column densities were precisely measured by fitting X-ray spectra from coronal sources observed during the initial eROSITA all-sky survey (eRASS1). Accurate distance measurements were obtained through cross-matching Galactic sources with the third Gaia data release (DR3). Despite the absence of a discernible correlation between column densities and distances or Galactic longitude, a robust correlation with Galactic latitude was identified. This suggests a decrease in ISM material density in the vertical direction away from the Galactic plane. We have also investigated the relation between the optical extinction and the hydrogen column density. To do so, we employed multiple density laws to fit the measured column densities, revealing constraints on height scale values ($9 &lt; h_ z &lt; 14$ pc). Unfortunately, radial scales and the central density remain unconstrained due to the scarcity of sources near the Galactic center. Subsequently, a 3D density map of the ISM was computed using a Gaussian process approach, inferring hydrogen density distribution from hydrogen column densities. The results unveil the presence of multiple beams and clouds of various sizes, indicative of small-scale structures. High-density regions were identified at approximately 100 pc, consistent with findings in dust-reddening studies, and are potentially associated with the Galactic Perseus arm or the local bubble. Moreover, high-density regions were pinpointed in proximity to the Orion, Chameleon, and Coalsack molecular complex, enriching our understanding of the intricate structure of the local ISM.

The VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea eXtended (VVVX) ESO public survey: Completion of the observations and legacy

The ESO public survey VISTA Variables in the V\'ia L\'actea (VVV) surveyed the inner Galactic bulge and the adjacent southern Galactic disk from $2009-2015$. Upon its conclusion, the complementary VVV eXtended (VVVX) survey has expanded both the temporal as well as spatial coverage of the original VVV area, widening it from $562$ to $1700$ sq. deg., as well as providing additional epochs in s $ filters from $2016-2023$. With the completion of VVVX observations during the first semester of 2023, we present here the observing strategy, a description of data quality and access, and the legacy of VVVX. VVVX took sim \,$2000$ hours, covering about 4&lt;!PCT!&gt; of the sky in the bulge and southern disk. VVVX covered most of the gaps left between the VVV and the VISTA Hemisphere Survey (VHS) areas and extended the VVV time baseline in the obscured regions affected by high extinction and hence hidden from optical observations. VVVX provides a deep $JHK_ s $ catalogue of $ point sources, as well as a s $ band catalogue of sim \,$10^7$ variable sources. Within the existing VVV area, we produced a $5D$ map of the surveyed region by combining positions, distances, and proper motions of well-understood distance indicators such as red clump stars, RR Lyrae, and Cepheid variables. In March 2023 we successfully finished the VVVX survey observations that started in 2016, an accomplishment for ESO Paranal Observatory upon 4200 hours of observations for VVV+VVVX. The VVV+VVVX catalogues complement those from the Gaia mission at low Galactic latitudes and provide spectroscopic targets for the forthcoming ESO high-multiplex spectrographs MOONS and 4MOST.

Improved source classification and performance analysis using Gaia DR3

The Discrete Source Classifier (DSC) provides probabilistic classification of sources in Gaia Data Release 3 (GDR3) using a Bayesian framework and a global prior. The DSC Combmod classifier in GDR3 achieved for the extragalactic classes (quasars and galaxies) a high completeness of 92%, but a low purity of 22% (all sky, all magnitudes) due to contamination from the far larger star class. However, these single metrics mask significant variation in performance with magnitude and sky position. Furthermore, a better combination of the individual classifiers that comprise Combmod is possible. Here we compute two-dimensional (2D) representations of the completeness and the purity as a function of Galactic latitude and source brightness, and also exclude the Magellanic Clouds where stellar contamination significantly reduces the purity. Reevaluated on a cleaner validation set and without introducing changes to the published GDR3 DSC probabilities themselves, we here achieve for Combmod average 2D completenesses of 92% and 95% and average 2D purities of 55% and 89% for the quasar and galaxy classes, respectively. Since the relative proportions of extragalactic objects to stars in Gaia is expected to vary significantly with brightness and latitude, we then introduce a new prior that is a continuous function of brightness and latitude, and compute new class probabilities from the GDR3 DSC component classifiers, Specmod and Allosmod. Contrary to expectations, this variable prior only improves the performance by a few percentage points, mostly at the faint end. Significant improvement, however, is obtained by a new additive combination of Specmod and Allosmod. This classifier, Combmod-α, achieves average 2D completenesses of 82% and 93% and average 2D purities of 79% and 93% for the quasar and galaxy classes, respectively, when using the global prior. Thus, we achieve a significant improvement in purity for a small loss of completeness. The improvement is most significant for faint quasars (G≥20) where the purity rises from 20% to 62%.

Associating LOFAR Galactic Faraday structures with the warm neutral medium

Faraday tomography observations with the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) have unveiled a remarkable network of structures in polarized synchrotron emission at high Galactic latitudes. The observed correlation between LOFAR structures, dust polarization, and HI emission suggests a connection to the neutral interstellar medium (ISM). We investigated this relationship by estimating the rotation measure (RM) of the warm neutral (partially ionized) medium (WNM) in the local ISM. Our work combines UV spectroscopy from FUSE and dust polarization observations from Planck with LOFAR data. We derived electron column densities from UV absorption spectra toward nine background stars, within the field of published data from the LOFAR two-meter sky survey. The associated RMs were estimated using a local magnetic field model fitted to the dust polarization data of Planck. A comparison with Faraday spectra at the position of the stars suggests that LOFAR structures delineate a slab of magnetized WNM and synchrotron emission, located ahead of the bulk of the warm ionized medium. This conclusion establishes an astrophysical framework for exploring the link between Faraday structures and the dynamics of the magnetized multiphase ISM. It will be possible to test it on a larger sample of stars when maps from the full northern sky survey of LOFAR become available.

Runaway BN supergiant star HD 93840: Progenitor of an imminent core-collapse supernova above the Galactic plane

We present a quantitative spectral analysis of the extreme nitrogen-enhanced supergiant HD 93840 (BN1\,Ib) at an intermediate galactic latitude. Based on an optical high-resolution spectrum and complementary ultraviolet and infrared (spectro-)photometry, in addition to Gaia data, we carried out a full characterisation of the star's properties. We used both hydrostatic and unified (photosphere+wind) model atmospheres that account for deviations from local thermodynamic equilibrium. A highly unusual surface CNO-mixing signature and a marked stellar overluminosity compared to the mass imply a binary channel for the star's past evolution. The kinematics shows that it has reached its current position above the Galactic plane as a runaway star, likely ejected by the supernova explosion of its former companion star. Its current bulk composition, with a notably increased mean molecular weight due to core He- and progressed shell H-burning, suggests an advanced evolutionary stage. It is poised to yield a rare core-collapse supernova of a blue supergiant about ten OB star population scale heights above the Galactic disk relatively soon, contributing to the metal enrichment of the circumgalactic medium.