Galactic Population Research Articles

Planetary nebulae seen with TESS: Discovery of new binary central star candidates from Cycle 1

Context. It has become clear in recent years that binarity plays a crucial role in many aspects of planetary nebulae (PNe), particularly with regard to the striking morphologies they exhibit. To date, there are nearly 60 known binary central stars of PNe (bCSPNe). However, both theory and observation indicate that this figure represents only the tip of the iceberg, with the Galactic PN population hosting orders of magnitude more stars. Aims. We are involved in a search for new bCSPNe with the aim of enhancing the statistical validation of the key role of binarity in the formation and shaping of PNe. New discoveries of bCSPNe and their characterization carry important implications not only for understanding PN evolution, but also for studying binary evolution and the common-envelope phase, which is still poorly understood. Methods. We used data from the TESS satellite to search for variability in the eight CSPNe that belong to the two-minute cadence of preselected targets in Cycle 1, with their available pipeline-extracted light curves. We identified strong periodicities and analysed them in the context of the binary scenario. Results. All the CSPNe but one (Abell 15) show clear signs of periodic variability in TESS. The cause of this variability can be attributed to different effects, some of them requiring the presence of a companion star. We find simple sinusoidal modulations in several of the systems, compatible with irradiation effects. In addition, two of the central stars (PG 1034+001 and NGC 5189) also show photometric variations due to ellipsoidal variations and other signs of variability that are probably caused by star spots or relativistic Doppler-beaming. The case of the well-studied Helix Nebula is of particular interest; here we constructed a series of binary models to explain the modulations we see in the light curve. We find that the variability constrains the possible companion to be very low-mass main-sequence star or sub-stellar object. We also identify, in substantial detail, the individual pulsation frequencies of NGC 246.

A census of the pulsar population observed with the international LOFAR station FR606 at low frequencies (25–80 MHz)

Context. To date, only 69 pulsars have been identified with a detected pulsed radio emission below 100 MHz. A LOFAR-core LBA census and a dedicated campaign with the Nançay LOFAR station in stand-alone mode were carried out in the years 2014–2017 in order to extend the known population in this frequency range. Aims. In this paper, we aim to extend the sample of known radio pulsars at low frequencies and to produce a catalogue in the frequency range of 25–80 MHz. This will allow future studies to probe the local Galactic pulsar population, in addition to helping explain their emission mechanism, better characterising the low-frequency turnover in their spectra, and obtaining new information about the interstellar medium through the study of dispersion, scattering, and scintillation. Methods. We observed 102 pulsars that are known to emit radio pulses below 200 MHz and with declination above −30°. We used the Low Band Antennas (LBA) of the LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR) international station FR606 at the Nançay Radio Observatory in stand-alone mode, recording data between 25 and 80 MHz. Results. Out of our sample of 102 pulsars, we detected 64. We confirmed the existence of ten pulsars detected below 100 MHz by the LOFAR LBA census for the first time (Bilous et al. 2020, A&A, 635, A75) and we added two more pulsars that had never before been detected in this frequency range. We provided average pulse profiles, DM values, and mean flux densities (or upper limits in the case of non-detections). The comparison with previously published results allows us to identify a hitherto unknown spectral turnover for five pulsars, confirming the expectation that spectral turnovers are a widespread phenomenon.

The radio properties of high-excitation radio galaxies with intermediate radio powers

ABSTRACT In the past decade, high-sensitivity radio surveys have revealed that the local radio active galactic nucleus population is dominated by moderate-to-low power sources with emission that is compact on galaxy scales. High-excitation radio galaxies (HERGs) with intermediate radio powers (22.5 < log (L1.4 GHz) < 25.0 W Hz−1) form an important sub-group of this population, since there is strong evidence that they also drive multiphase outflows on the scales of galaxy bulges. Here, we present high-resolution Very Large Array observations at 1.5, 4.5, and 7.5 GHz of a sample of 16 such HERGs in the local universe (z < 0.1), conducted in order to investigate the morphology, extent, and spectra of their radio emission in detail, down to sub-kpc scales. We find that the majority (56 per cent) have unresolved structures at the limiting angular resolution of the observations (∼0.3 arcsec). Although similar in the compactness of their radio structures, these sources have steep radio spectra and host galaxy properties that distinguish them from local low-excitation radio galaxies that are unresolved on similar scales. The remaining sources exhibit extended radio structures with projected diameters ∼1.4–19.0 kpc and a variety of morphologies: three double-lobed; two large-scale diffuse; one jetted and ‘S-shaped’; one undetermined. Only 19 per cent of the sample therefore exhibit the double-lobed/edge-brightened structures often associated with their counterparts at high and low radio powers: radio-powerful HERGs and Seyfert galaxies, respectively. Additional high-resolution observations are required to investigate this further, and to probe the ≲300 pc scales on which some Seyfert galaxies show extended structures.

The evolutionary status of protostellar clumps hosting class II methanol masers

ABSTRACT The Methanol MultiBeam survey (MMB) provides the most complete sample of Galactic massive young stellar objects (MYSOs) hosting 6.7 GHz class II methanol masers. We characterize the properties of these maser sources using dust emission detected by the Herschel Infrared Galactic Plane Survey (Hi-GAL) to assess their evolutionary state. Associating 731 (73 per cent) of MMB sources with compact emission at four Hi-GAL wavelengths, we derive clump properties and define the requirements of an MYSO to host a 6.7 GHz maser. The median far-infrared (FIR) mass and luminosity are 630 M⊙ and 2500 L⊙ for sources on the near side of Galactic centre and 3200 M⊙ and 10000 L⊙ for more distant sources. The median luminosity-to-mass ratio is similar for both at ∼4.2 L⊙ M⊙−1. We identify an apparent minimum 70 μm luminosity required to sustain a methanol maser of a given luminosity (with $L_{70} \propto L_{6.7}\, ^{0.6}$). The maser host clumps have higher mass and higher FIR luminosities than the general Galactic population of protostellar MYSOs. Using principal component analysis, we find 896 protostellar clumps satisfy the requirements to host a methanol maser but lack a detection in the MMB. Finding a 70 μm flux density deficiency in these objects, we favour the scenario in which these objects are evolved beyond the age where a luminous 6.7 GHz maser can be sustained. Finally, segregation by association with secondary maser species identifies evolutionary differences within the population of 6.7GHz sources.

Comparing Observed Stellar Kinematics and Surface Densities in a Low-latitude Bulge Field to Galactic Population Synthesis Models

Abstract We present an analysis of Galactic bulge stars from Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3 observations of the Stanek window (l, b = [0.25, −2.15]) from two epochs approximately two years apart. This data set is adjacent to the provisional Wide-field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) microlensing field. Proper motions are measured for approximately 115,000 stars down to 28th mag in V band and 25th mag in I band, with accuracies of 0.5 mas yr−1 (20 km s−1) at I ≈ 21. A cut on the longitudinal proper motion μ l allows us to separate disk and bulge populations and produce bulge-only star counts that are corrected for photometric completeness and efficiency of the proper-motion cut. The kinematic dispersions and surface density in the field are compared to the nearby SWEEPS sight line, finding a marginally larger-than-expected gradient in stellar density. The observed bulge star counts and kinematics are further compared to the Besançon, Galaxia, and GalMod Galactic population synthesis models. We find that most of the models underpredict low-mass bulge stars by ∼33% below the main-sequence turnoff, and upwards of ∼70% at redder J and H wavebands. While considering inaccuracies in the Galactic models, we give implications for the exoplanet yield from the WFIRST microlensing mission.

Physical Models for the Clustering of Obscured and Unobscured Quasars

Abstract Clustering measurements of obscured and unobscured quasars show that obscured quasars reside in more massive dark matter halos than their unobscured counterparts. These results are inconsistent with simple unified (torus) scenarios but might be explained by models in which the distribution of obscuring material depends on Eddington ratio or galaxy stellar mass. We test these possibilities by constructing simple physical models to compare to observed active galactic nucleus populations. We find that previously observed relationships between obscuration and Eddington ratio or stellar mass are not sufficient to reproduce the observed quasar clustering results ( and for obscured and unobscured populations, respectively) while maintaining the observed fraction of obscured quasars (30%–65%). This work suggests that evolutionary models, in which obscuration evolves on the typical timescale for black hole growth, are necessary to understand the observed clustering of mid-IR-selected quasars.

Chemical Properties of the Local Galactic Disk and Halo. I. Fundamental Properties of 1544 Nearby, High Proper-motion M Dwarfs and Subdwarfs

Abstract Due to their ubiquity and very long main-sequence lifetimes, M dwarfs provide an excellent tool to study the formation and chemical enrichment history of our Galaxy. However, owing to their intrinsic faintness, the acquisition of high-resolution, high signal-to-noise spectra of low-mass stars has been limited to small numbers of very nearby stars, mostly from the Galactic disk population. On the other hand, large numbers of low- to medium-resolution spectra of M-type dwarf stars from both the local Galactic disk and halo are available from various surveys. In order to fully exploit these data, we develop a template-fit method using a set of empirically assembled M dwarf/subdwarf classification templates, based on the measurements of the TiO and CaH molecular bands near 7000 Å, which are used to classify M dwarfs/subdwarfs by spectral type and metallicity class. We further present a pipeline to automatically determine the effective temperature T eff, metallicity [M/H], α-element to iron abundance ratio [α/Fe], and surface gravity log g of M dwarfs/subdwarfs using the latest version of BT-Settl model atmospheres. We apply these methods to a set of low- to medium-resolution spectra of 1544 high proper-motion (μ ≥ 0.″4 yr−1) M dwarfs/subdwarfs, collected at the MDM observatory, Lick Observatory, Kitt-Peak National Observatory, and Cerro-Tololo Interamerican Observatory. Our metallicity estimates appear to be consistent with the expected color–magnitude variation of stars relative to the atmospheric composition, as our sample shows a clear stratification with respect to metallicity in the Hertzsprung–Russel diagram constructed from their Gaia DR2 parallaxes and optical magnitudes. Furthermore, the measured chemical parameters of the two components in 48 binary systems are in good agreement with each other, which suggest a precision of ±0.22 dex in [M/H], ±0.08 dex in [α/Fe], and ±0.16 dex in the combined index [α/Fe] + [M/H]. We find that the relationship between color and spectral subtype depends on metallicity class, as the color G BP − G RP is more sensitive to subtype for metal-rich M dwarfs in comparison to metal-poor M subdwarfs. We also demonstrate that effective temperature as a function of spectral subtype has a steeper slope for metal-rich M dwarfs than metal-poor M subdwarfs. There is also a good consistency between “metallicity class,” obtained from the empirical classification templates, and the index [α/Fe] + [M/H] (∼[α/H]), obtained from BT-Settl model fitting, which means that the more easily measured “metallicity class” can be used as a relatively reliable indicator of absolute α-element abundance, [α/H], in low-mass stars. Finally, we examine the distribution of our stars in the [α/Fe] versus [M/H] diagram, which shows evidence of clustering in chemical abundance makeup, suggestive of discrete populations among the local disk and halo stars. We predict that analyses of larger samples of spectra of nearby M-type stars will uncover a complex structure of our Galaxy.

The Origin of LAMOST J1109+7459

We report a comprehensive Chemo-dynamical analysis of LAMOST J1109+0754, a relatively bright (V = 12.8), extremely metal-poor ([Fe/H] = -3.17), and prograde (JΦ and VΦ > 0) star, with a strong r-process enhancement ([Eu/Fe] = +0.94 ± 0.12, [Ba/Fe] = -0.52 ± 0.15). 31 chemical abundances (from Lithium to Thorium) were derived. We suggest a possible progenitor with stellar mass of 13.4-29.5Msun. We argue that J1109+0754 is representative of the main r-process component due to the well agreement with the scaled-solar r-process component. We analyze the orbital history of this star in a time-varying Galactic potential, based on a Milky-Way analogue model extracted from Illustris-TNG simulations. Using this model, we carry out a statistical estimation of the phase-space coordinates of J1109+0754 at a young cosmic age. Collectively, the calculated motions, the derived chemistry, and the results from the cosmological simulations suggest that LAMOST J1109+0754 most likely formed in a low-mass dwarf galaxy, and belongs to the Galactic outer-halo population.

Constraints to Dark Matter Annihilation from High-Latitude HAWC Unidentified Sources

The Λ CDM cosmological framework predicts the existence of thousands of subhalos in our own Galaxy not massive enough to retain baryons and become visible. Yet, some of them may outshine in gamma rays provided that the dark matter is made of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), which would self-annihilate and would appear as unidentified gamma-ray sources (unIDs) in gamma-ray catalogs. Indeed, unIDs have proven to be competitive targets for dark matter searches with gamma rays. In this work, we focus on the three high-latitude ( | b | ≥ 10 ) sources present in the 2HWC catalog of the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory with no clear associations at other wavelengths. Indeed, only one of these sources, 2HWC J1040+308, is found to be above the HAWC detection threshold when considering 760 days of data, i.e., a factor 1.5 more exposure time than in the original 2HWC catalog. Other gamma-ray instruments, such as Fermi-LAT or VERITAS at lower energies, do not detect the source. Also, this unID is reported as spatially extended, making it even more interesting in a dark matter search context. While waiting for more data that may shed further light on the nature of this source, we set competitive upper limits on the annihilation cross section by comparing this HAWC unID to expectations based on state-of-the-art N-body cosmological simulations of the Galactic subhalo population. We find these constraints to be particularly competitive for heavy WIMPs, i.e., masses above ∼25 (40) TeV in the case of the b b ¯ ( τ + τ − ) annihilation channel, reaching velocity-averaged cross section values of 2 × 10 − 25 ( 5 × 10 − 25 ) cm 3 ·s − 1 . Although far from testing the thermal relic cross section value, the obtained limits are independent and nicely complementary to those from radically different DM analyses and targets, demonstrating once again the high potential of this DM search approach.

The Separation Distribution of Ultrawide Binaries across Galactic Populations

We present an extensive sample of ultra-wide binary stars in the solar neighborhood, focusing on separations of $0.01<s/{pc}<1$. Using data from Gaia DR2, we define kinematic sub-populations via the systems' tangential velocities, i.e., disk-like ($v_{\perp, tot}<40$km/s), intermediate ($v_{\perp,tot}=(40-85)$km/s), and halo-like ($v_{\perp,tot}>85$km/s) samples, presuming that these velocity cuts represent a rough ordering in the binaries' age and metallicity. Through stringent cuts on astrometric precision, we can obtain pure binary samples with thousands of binaries in each sample. For all three populations, the distribution of binary separations extends smoothly to 1pc, displaying neither strong truncation nor bimodality. Fitting a smoothly-broken power law for the separation distribution, we find that its slope at separations $s=10^{2.5-4}$AU is the same for all sub-populations, $p(s)\propto s^{\gamma}$, with $\gamma\sim-1.54$. However, the logarithmic slope of $p(s)$ steepens at $s \gtrsim 10^4$AU. We find some evidences that the degree of steepening increases with the binaries' age, with a slope-change of only $\Delta\gamma\sim0.5$ for disk-like stars, but $\Delta\gamma>1$ for halo-like stars. This trend is contrary to what might be expected if steepening at wide separations were due to gravitational perturbations by molecular clouds or stars, which would preferentially disrupt disk binaries. If we were to interpret steepening at $s\gtrsim 10^4$AU as a consequence of disruption by massive halo objects, we would have to invoke a MACHO population inconsistent with other constraints. As a more plausible alternative, we propose a simple model to predict the separation distribution of wide binaries formed in dissolving star clusters. This model generically predicts $\gamma\sim-1.5$ as observed, with steepening at larger separations due to the finite size of binaries' birth clusters.

The Canada–France Imaging Survey: Reconstructing the Milky Way Star Formation History from Its White Dwarf Population

Abstract As the remnants of stars with initial masses ≲8 M ⊙, white dwarfs contain valuable information on the formation histories of stellar populations. In this paper, we use deep, high-quality, u-band photometry from the Canada–France Imaging Survey, griz photometry from Pan-STARRS1, as well as proper motions from Gaia DR2, to select 25,156 white dwarf candidates over ∼4500 deg2 using a reduced proper motion diagram. We develop a new white dwarf population synthesis code that returns mock observations of the Galactic field white dwarf population for a given star formation history, while simultaneously taking into account the geometry of the Milky Way (MW), survey parameters, and selection effects. We use this model to derive the star formation histories of the thin disk, thick disk, and stellar halo. Our results show that the MW disk began forming stars (11.3 ± 0.5) Gyr ago, with a peak rate of (8.8 ± 1.4) M ⊙ yr −1 at (9.8 ± 0.4) Gyr, before a slow decline to a constant rate until the present day—consistent with recent results suggesting a merging event with a satellite galaxy. Studying the residuals between the data and best-fit model shows evidence for a slight increase in star formation over the past 3 Gyr. We fit the local fraction of helium-atmosphere white dwarfs to be (21 ± 3)%. Incorporating this methodology with data from future wide-field surveys such as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, Euclid, The Cosmological Advanced Survey Telescope for Optical and ultraviolet Research, and the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope should provide an unprecedented view into the formation of the MW at its earliest epoch through its white dwarfs.

Characterizing the companion AGBs using surface chemical composition of barium stars

ABSTRACT Barium stars are one of the important probes to understand the origin and evolution of slow neutron-capture process elements in the Galaxy. These are extrinsic stars, where the observed s-process element abundances are believed to have an origin in the now invisible companions that produced these elements at their asymptotic giant branch (AGB) phase of evolution. We have attempted to understand the s-process nucleosynthesis, as well as the physical properties of the companion stars through a detailed comparison of observed elemental abundances of 10 barium stars with the predictions from AGB nucleosynthesis models, FRUITY. For these stars, we have presented estimates of abundances of several elements, C, N, O, Na, Al, α-elements, Fe-peak elements, and neutron-capture elements Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, Ba, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, and Eu. The abundance estimates are based on high resolution spectral analysis. Observations of Rb in four of these stars have allowed us to put a limit to the mass of the companion AGB stars. Our analysis clearly shows that the former companions responsible for the surface abundance peculiarities of these stars are low-mass AGB stars. Kinematic analysis has shown the stars to be members of Galactic disc population.

NuSTAR Observations of the Unidentified INTEGRAL Sources: Constraints on the Galactic Population of HMXBs

Abstract The NuSTAR Legacy program titled Unidentified INTEGRAL Sources targeted faint hard X-ray sources revealed by INTEGRAL in the Galactic plane in order to provide conclusive identification of their nature and insights on the population of faint hard X-ray sources. The NuSTAR and Swift X-Ray Telescope observations obtained in 2015–2017 contributed to the successful identification of five persistent sources. Here, we report on the spectral and variability analyses that helped to consolidate the classifications of IGR J10447–6027, IGR J16181–5407, and IGR J20569+4940 as active galactic nuclei and IGR J17402–3656 as an intermediate polar. An optical spectrum of the blazar IGR J20569+4940 is also presented. Combining these results with successful identifications of other such faint and persistent INTEGRAL sources reported in the literature, we investigate possible implications for the population of persistent high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) below the identification completion limit of the INTEGRAL survey. The current trend hints at a deficit of persistent HMXBs below F 17–60 keV = 10−11 erg cm−2 s−1, but additional efforts dedicated to classifying faint hard X-ray sources are needed before we can draw solid conclusions.

Classification of New X-Ray Counterparts for Fermi Unassociated Gamma-Ray Sources Using the Swift X-Ray Telescope

Abstract Approximately one-third of the gamma-ray sources in the third Fermi-LAT catalog are unidentified or unassociated with objects at other wavelengths. Observations with the X-Ray Telescope on the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory (Swift-XRT) have yielded possible counterparts in ∼30% of these source regions. The objective of this work is to identify the nature of these possible counterparts, utilizing their gamma-ray properties coupled with the Swift derived X-ray properties. The majority of the known sources in the Fermi catalogs are blazars, which constitute the bulk of the extragalactic gamma-ray source population. The galactic population on the other hand is dominated by pulsars. Overall, these two categories constitute the majority of all gamma-ray objects. Blazars and pulsars occupy different parameter space when X-ray fluxes are compared with various gamma-ray properties. In this work, we utilize the X-ray observations performed with the Swift-XRT for the unknown Fermi sources and compare their X-ray and gamma-ray properties to differentiate between the two source classes. We employ two machine-learning algorithms, decision tree and random forest (RF) classifier, to our high signal-to-noise ratio sample of 217 sources, each of which corresponds to Fermi unassociated regions. The accuracy scores for both methods were found to be 97% and 99%, respectively. The RF classifier, which is based on the application of a multitude of decision trees, associated a probability value (P bzr) for each source to be a blazar. This yielded 173 blazar candidates from this source sample, with P bzr ≥ 90% for each of these sources, and 134 of these possible blazar source associations had P bzr ≥ 99%. The results yielded 13 sources with P bzr ≤ 10%, which we deemed as reasonable candidates for pulsars, seven of which result with P bzr ≤ 1%. There were 31 sources that exhibited intermediate probabilities and were termed ambiguous due to their unclear characterization as a pulsar or a blazar.

Circumbinary exoplanets and brown dwarfs with the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna

Aims. We explore the prospects for the detection of giant circumbinary exoplanets and brown dwarfs (BDs) orbiting Galactic double white dwarfs (DWDs) binaries with the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). Methods. By assuming an occurrence rate of 50%, motivated by white dwarf pollution observations, we built a Galactic synthetic population of P-type giant exoplanets and BDs orbiting DWDs. We carried this out by injecting different sub-stellar populations, with various mass and orbital separation characteristics, into the DWD population used in the LISA mission proposal. We then performed a Fisher matrix analysis to measure how many of these three-body systems show a periodic Doppler-shifted gravitational wave perturbation detectable by LISA. Results. We report the number of circumbinary planets (CBPs) and BDs that can be detected by LISA for various combinations of mass and semi-major axis distributions. We identify pessimistic and optimistic scenarios corresponding, respectively, to 3 and 83 (14 and 2218) detections of CBPs (BDs), observed during the length of the nominal LISA mission. These detections are distributed all over the Galaxy following the underlying DWD distribution, and they are biased towards DWDs with higher LISA signal-to-noise ratio and shorter orbital period. Finally, we show that if LISA were to be extended for four more years, the number of systems detected will be more than doubled in both the optimistic and pessimistic scenarios. Conclusions. Our results present promising prospects for the detection of post-main sequence exoplanets and BDs, showing that gravitational waves can prove the existence of these populations over the totality of the Milky Way. Detections by LISA will deepen our knowledge on the life of exoplanets subsequent to the most extreme evolution phases of their hosts, clarifying whether new phases of planetary formation take place later in the life of the stars. Such a method is strongly complementary to electromagnetic studies within the solar region and opens a window into the investigation of planets and BDs everywhere in the entire Galaxy, and possibly even in nearby galaxies in the Local Group.

The overarching framework of core-collapse supernova explosions as revealed by 3D fornax simulations

ABSTRACT We have conducted 19 state-of-the-art 3D core-collapse supernova simulations spanning a broad range of progenitor masses. This is the largest collection of sophisticated 3D supernova simulations ever performed. We have found that while the majority of these models explode, not all do, and that even models in the middle of the available progenitor mass range may be less explodable. This does not mean that those models for which we did not witness explosion would not explode in Nature, but that they are less prone to explosion than others. One consequence is that the ‘compactness’ measure is not a metric for explodability. We find that lower-mass massive star progenitors likely experience lower-energy explosions, while the higher-mass massive stars likely experience higher-energy explosions. Moreover, most 3D explosions have a dominant dipole morphology, have a pinched, wasp-waist structure, and experience simultaneous accretion and explosion. We reproduce the general range of residual neutron-star masses inferred for the galactic neutron-star population. The most massive progenitor models, however, in particular vis à vis explosion energy, need to be continued for longer physical times to asymptote to their final states. We find that while the majority of the inner ejecta have Ye = 0.5, there is a substantial proton-rich tail. This result has important implications for the nucleosynthetic yields as a function of progenitor. Finally, we find that the non-exploding models eventually evolve into compact inner configurations that experience a quasi-periodic spiral SASI mode. We otherwise see little evidence of the SASI in the exploding models.

Gamma-Ray Sensitivity to Dark Matter Subhalo Modelling at High Latitudes

Searches for “dark” subhaloes in gamma-ray point-like source catalogues are among promising strategies for indirect dark matter detection. Such a search is nevertheless affected by uncertainties related, on the one hand, to the modelling of the dark matter subhalo distribution in Milky-Way-like galaxies, and, on the other hand, to the sensitivity of gamma-ray instruments to the dark matter subhalo signals. In the present work, we assess the detectability of dark matter subhaloes in Fermi-LAT catalogues, taking into accounts uncertainties associated with the modelling of the galactic subhalo population. We use four different halo models bracketing a large set of uncertainties. For each model, adopting an accurate detection threshold of the LAT to dark matter subhalo signals and comparing model predictions with the number of unassociated point-sources in Fermi-LAT catalogues, we derive upper limits on the annihilation cross section as a function of dark matter mass. Our results show that, even in the best-case scenario (i.e., DMonly subhalo model), which does not include tidal disruption from baryons, the limits on the dark matter parameter space are less stringent than current gamma-ray limits from dwarf spheroidal galaxies. Comparing the results obtained with the different subhalo models, we find that baryonic effects on the subhalo population are significant and lead to dark matter constraints that are less stringent by a factor of ∼2 to ∼5. This uncertainty comes from the unknown resilience of dark matter subhaloes to tidal disruption.

A Search for Intermediate-separation Low-mass Binaries in the Orion Nebula Cluster

Abstract We present the results of a binary population study in the Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC) using archival Hubble Space Telescope (HST) data obtained with the Advanced Camera for Surveys in Johnson V filter (HST Proposal 10246, PI M. Robberto). Young clusters and associations hold clues to the origin and properties of multiple star systems. Binaries with separations &lt;100 au are useful as tracers of the initial binary population because they are not as likely to be destroyed through dynamical interactions. Low-mass, low stellar density, star-forming regions such as Taurus–Auriga, reveal an excess of multiples compared to the Galactic field. Studying the binary population of higher mass, higher stellar density star-forming regions like the ONC provides useful information concerning the origin of the Galactic field star population. In this survey, we characterize the previously unexplored (and incomplete) separation parameter space of binaries in the ONC (15–160 au) by fitting a double-point-spread function (PSF) model built from empirical PSFs. We identified 14 candidate binaries (11 new detections) and find that of our observed sample are in binary systems, complete over mass ratios and separations of 0.6 &lt; q &lt; 1.0 and 30 &lt; a &lt; 160 au. This is consistent with the Galactic field M-dwarf population over the same parameter ranges, 6.5% ± 3%. Therefore, high-mass star-forming regions like the ONC would not require further dynamical evolution for their binary population to resemble the Galactic field, as some models have hypothesized for young clusters.

Mining for Candidates of Galactic Stellar-mass Black Hole Binaries with LAMOST

Abstract We study the prospects of searching for black hole (BH) binary systems with a stellar-mass BH and a non-compact visible companion, by utilizing the spectroscopic data of the Large Sky Area Multi-object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST). We simulate the Galactic BH binary population and determine its optical visibility by considering the stellar synthetic population model and the distributions of binary orbital parameters. By convolving the visibility of BH binaries with the LAMOST detection sensitivity, we predict that ≳400 candidate BH binaries can be found by the low-resolution, non-time-domain survey, and ∼50–350 candidates by the LAMOST ongoing medium-resolution, time-domain spectroscopic survey. Most of the candidates are short-period (0.2–2 days) binaries with M-, K-, G-, or F-type companions, in which ∼47% have a mass function (the lower limit of the BH mass) larger than 3 M ⊙. By complementing the LAMOST spectroscopic data with other photometric/spectroscopic surveys or follow-up observations, these candidates could be confirmed. Therefore, by exploring the LAMOST data, we can enlarge the sample of dynamically confirmed BH binaries significantly, which can improve our understanding of the mass distribution of BHs and the stellar evolution model.

Supernova signals of light dark matter

Dark matter direct detection experiments have poor sensitivity to a galactic population of dark matter with mass below the GeV scale. However, such dark matter can be produced copiously in supernovae. Since this thermally-produced population is much hotter than the galactic dark matter, it can be observed with direct detection experiments. In this paper, we focus on a dark sector with fermion dark matter and a heavy dark photon as a specific example. We first extend existing supernova cooling constraints on this model to the regime of strong coupling where the dark matter becomes diffusively trapped in the supernova. Then, using the fact that even outside these cooling constraints the diffuse galactic flux of these dark sector particles can still be large, we show that this flux is detectable in direct detection experiments such as current and next-generation liquid xenon detectors. As a result, due to supernova production, light dark matter has the potential to be discovered over many orders of magnitude of mass and coupling.