The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has discovered hundreds of new worlds, with TESS planet candidates now outnumbering the total number of confirmed planets from Kepler. Owing to differences in survey design, TESS continues to provide planets that are better suited for subsequent follow-up studies, including mass measurement through radial velocity (RV) observations, compared to Kepler targets. In this work, we present the TESS-Keck Survey's (TKS) Mass Catalog: a uniform analysis of all TKS RV survey data that has resulted in mass constraints for 126 planets and candidate signals. This includes 58 mass measurements that have reached ≥5σ precision. We confirm or validate 32 new planets from the TESS mission either by significant mass measurement (15) or statistical validation (17), and we find no evidence of likely false positives among our entire sample. This work also serves as a data release for all previously unpublished TKS survey data, including 9,204 RV measurements and associated activity indicators over our three-year survey. We took the opportunity to assess the performance of our survey and found that we achieved many of our goals, including measuring the mass of 38 small (<4 R⊕) planets, nearly achieving the TESS mission's basic science requirement. In addition, we evaluated the performance of the Automated Planet Finder as survey support and observed meaningful constraints on system parameters, due to its more uniform phase coverage. Finally, we compared our measured masses to those predicted by commonly used mass–radius relations and investigated evidence of systematic bias.
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Alex S. Polanski et al 2024 ApJS 272 32
Jacob T. VanderPlas 2018 ApJS 236 16
The Lomb–Scargle periodogram is a well-known algorithm for detecting and characterizing periodic signals in unevenly sampled data. This paper presents a conceptual introduction to the Lomb–Scargle periodogram and important practical considerations for its use. Rather than a rigorous mathematical treatment, the goal of this paper is to build intuition about what assumptions are implicit in the use of the Lomb–Scargle periodogram and related estimators of periodicity, so as to motivate important practical considerations required in its proper application and interpretation.
Tonima Tasnim Ananna et al 2022 ApJS 261 9
We determine the low-redshift X-ray luminosity function, active black hole mass function (BHMF), and Eddington ratio distribution function (ERDF) for both unobscured (Type 1) and obscured (Type 2) active galactic nuclei (AGNs), using the unprecedented spectroscopic completeness of the BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey (BASS) data release 2. In addition to a straightforward 1/Vmax approach, we also compute the intrinsic distributions, accounting for sample truncation by employing a forward-modeling approach to recover the observed BHMF and ERDF. As previous BHMFs and ERDFs have been robustly determined only for samples of bright, broad-line (Type 1) AGNs and/or quasars, ours are the first directly observationally constrained BHMF and ERDF of Type 2 AGNs. We find that after accounting for all observational biases, the intrinsic ERDF of Type 2 AGNs is significantly more skewed toward lower Eddington ratios than the intrinsic ERDF of Type 1 AGNs. This result supports the radiation-regulated unification scenario, in which radiation pressure dictates the geometry of the dusty obscuring structure around an AGN. Calculating the ERDFs in two separate mass bins, we verify that the derived shape is consistent, validating the assumption that the ERDF (shape) is mass-independent. We report the local AGN duty cycle as a function of mass and Eddington ratio, by comparing the BASS active BHMF with the local mass function for all supermassive black holes. We also present the of the Swift/BAT 70 month sources.
Tracy X. Chen et al 2022 ApJS 260 5
We present an overview of best practices for publishing data in astronomy and astrophysics journals. These recommendations are intended as a reference for authors to help prepare and publish data in a way that will better represent and support science results, enable better data sharing, improve reproducibility, and enhance the reusability of data. Observance of these guidelines will also help to streamline the extraction, preservation, integration and cross-linking of valuable data from astrophysics literature into major astronomical databases, and consequently facilitate new modes of science discovery that will better exploit the vast quantities of panchromatic and multidimensional data associated with the literature. We encourage authors, journal editors, referees, and publishers to implement the best practices reviewed here, as well as related recommendations from international astronomical organizations such as the International Astronomical Union for publication of nomenclature, data, and metadata. A convenient Checklist of Recommendations for Publishing Data in the Literature (Appendix A) is included for authors to consult before the submission of the final version of their journal articles and associated data files. We recommend that publishers of journals in astronomy and astrophysics incorporate a link to this document in their Instructions to Authors.
Abdurro'uf et al 2022 ApJS 259 35
This paper documents the seventeenth data release (DR17) from the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys; the fifth and final release from the fourth phase (SDSS-IV). DR17 contains the complete release of the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey, which reached its goal of surveying over 10,000 nearby galaxies. The complete release of the MaNGA Stellar Library accompanies this data, providing observations of almost 30,000 stars through the MaNGA instrument during bright time. DR17 also contains the complete release of the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment 2 survey that publicly releases infrared spectra of over 650,000 stars. The main sample from the Extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS), as well as the subsurvey Time Domain Spectroscopic Survey data were fully released in DR16. New single-fiber optical spectroscopy released in DR17 is from the SPectroscipic IDentification of ERosita Survey subsurvey and the eBOSS-RM program. Along with the primary data sets, DR17 includes 25 new or updated value-added catalogs. This paper concludes the release of SDSS-IV survey data. SDSS continues into its fifth phase with observations already underway for the Milky Way Mapper, Local Volume Mapper, and Black Hole Mapper surveys.
J. Davy Kirkpatrick et al 2024 ApJS 271 55
A complete accounting of nearby objects—from the highest-mass white dwarf progenitors down to low-mass brown dwarfs—is now possible, thanks to an almost complete set of trigonometric parallax determinations from Gaia, ground-based surveys, and Spitzer follow-up. We create a census of objects within a Sun-centered sphere of 20 pc radius and check published literature to decompose each binary or higher-order system into its separate components. The result is a volume-limited census of ∼3600 individual star formation products useful in measuring the initial mass function across the stellar (<8M⊙) and substellar (≳5MJup) regimes. Comparing our resulting initial mass function to previous measurements shows good agreement above 0.8M⊙ and a divergence at lower masses. Our 20 pc space densities are best fit with a quadripartite power law, , with long-established values of α = 2.3 at high masses (0.55 < M < 8.00M⊙), and α = 1.3 at intermediate masses (0.22 < M < 0.55M⊙), but at lower masses, we find α = 0.25 for 0.05 < M < 0.22M⊙, and α = 0.6 for 0.01 < M < 0.05M⊙. This implies that the rate of production as a function of decreasing mass diminishes in the low-mass star/high-mass brown dwarf regime before increasing again in the low-mass brown dwarf regime. Correcting for completeness, we find a star to brown dwarf number ratio of, currently, 4:1, and an average mass per object of 0.41 M⊙.
Bill Paxton et al 2011 ApJS 192 3
Stellar physics and evolution calculations enable a broad range of research in astrophysics. Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA) is a suite of open source, robust, efficient, thread-safe libraries for a wide range of applications in computational stellar astrophysics. A one-dimensional stellar evolution module, MESAstar, combines many of the numerical and physics modules for simulations of a wide range of stellar evolution scenarios ranging from very low mass to massive stars, including advanced evolutionary phases. MESAstar solves the fully coupled structure and composition equations simultaneously. It uses adaptive mesh refinement and sophisticated timestep controls, and supports shared memory parallelism based on OpenMP. State-of-the-art modules provide equation of state, opacity, nuclear reaction rates, element diffusion data, and atmosphere boundary conditions. Each module is constructed as a separate Fortran 95 library with its own explicitly defined public interface to facilitate independent development. Several detailed examples indicate the extensive verification and testing that is continuously performed and demonstrate the wide range of capabilities that MESA possesses. These examples include evolutionary tracks of very low mass stars, brown dwarfs, and gas giant planets to very old ages; the complete evolutionary track of a 1 M☉ star from the pre-main sequence (PMS) to a cooling white dwarf; the solar sound speed profile; the evolution of intermediate-mass stars through the He-core burning phase and thermal pulses on the He-shell burning asymptotic giant branch phase; the interior structure of slowly pulsating B Stars and Beta Cepheids; the complete evolutionary tracks of massive stars from the PMS to the onset of core collapse; mass transfer from stars undergoing Roche lobe overflow; and the evolution of helium accretion onto a neutron star. MESA can be downloaded from the project Web site (http://mesa.sourceforge.net/).
Zhen Cao et al 2024 ApJS 271 25
We present the first catalog of very-high-energy and ultra-high-energy gamma-ray sources detected by the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory. The catalog was compiled using 508 days of data collected by the Water Cherenkov Detector Array from 2021 March to 2022 September and 933 days of data recorded by the Kilometer Squared Array from 2020 January to 2022 September. This catalog represents the main result from the most sensitive large coverage gamma-ray survey of the sky above 1 TeV, covering decl. from −20° to 80°. In total, the catalog contains 90 sources with an extended size smaller than 2° and a significance of detection at >5σ. Based on our source association criteria, 32 new TeV sources are proposed in this study. Among the 90 sources, 43 sources are detected with ultra-high energy (E > 100 TeV) emission at >4σ significance level. We provide the position, extension, and spectral characteristics of all the sources in this catalog.
Christopher N. A. Willmer 2018 ApJS 236 47
This paper presents a table with estimates of the absolute magnitude of the Sun and the conversions from vegamag to the AB and ST systems for several wide-band filters used in ground-based and space-based observatories. These estimates use the dustless spectral energy distribution (SED) of Vega, calibrated absolutely using the SED of Sirius, to set the vegamag zero-points and a composite spectrum of the Sun that coadds space-based observations from the ultraviolet to the near-infrared with models of the Solar atmosphere. The uncertainty of the absolute magnitudes is estimated by comparing the synthetic colors with photometric measurements of solar analogs and is found to be ∼0.02 mag. Combined with the uncertainty of ∼2% in the calibration of the Vega SED, the errors of these absolute magnitudes are ∼3%–4%. Using these SEDs, for three of the most utilized filters in extragalactic work the estimated absolute magnitudes of the Sun are MB = 5.44, MV = 4.81, and MK = 3.27 mag in the vegamag system and MB = 5.31, MV = 4.80, and MK = 5.08 mag in AB.
Lorenzo Roberti et al 2024 ApJS 272 15
We present an extension of the set of models published in Limongi & Chieffi (2018) at metallicity 2 times solar, i.e., [Fe/H] = 0.3. The key physical properties of these models at the onset of core collapse are mainly due to the higher mass loss triggered by the higher metallicity: the supersolar metallicity (SSM) models reach core collapse with smaller He- and CO-core masses, while the amount of 12C left by the central He burning is higher. These results are valid for all the rotation velocities. The yields of the neutron-capture nuclei expressed per unit mass of oxygen (i.e., the X/O) are higher in the SSM models than in the SM ones in the nonrotating case, while the opposite occurs in the rotating models. The trend shown by the nonrotating models is the expected one, given the secondary nature of the neutron-capture nucleosynthesis. Vice versa, the counterintuitive trend obtained in the rotating models is the consequence of the higher mass loss present in the SSM models, removes the H-rich envelope faster than in the SM models while the stars are still in central He burning, dumping out the entanglement (activated by the rotation instabilities) and therefore conspicuous primary neutron-capture nucleosynthesis.
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Yong Zhao et al 2024 ApJS 272 35
In previous work, we demonstrated that machine-learning techniques based on mixture density networks (MDNs) are successful in inferring the interior structure of rocky exoplanets with large compositional diversity. In this study, we compare the performance of a well-trained MDN model with the conventional Bayesian inversion method based on the Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method, under the same observable constraints. Considering that MCMC inversion is generally performed with the prior knowledge of planetary mass, radius, and bulk molar ratios of Fe/Mg and Si/Mg, we regenerate a substantial data set of interior structure data for rocky exoplanets and train a new MDN model with inputs of planetary mass, radius, Fe/Mg, and Si/Mg. It has been found that the well-trained MDN model has comparable performance to that of the MCMC method but requires significantly less computation time. The MDN model presents a practical alternative to the traditional MCMC method, surpassing the latter with minimal requirements for specialized knowledge, faster prediction, and greater adaptability. The developed MDN model is made publicly available on GitHub for the broader scientific community's utilization. With the advent of the James Webb Space Telescope, we are ushering in a new epoch in exoplanetary explorations. In this evolving landscape, the MDN model stands out as a valuable asset, particularly for its ability to rapidly assimilate and interpret new data, thereby substantially advancing our understanding of the interior and habitability of exoplanetary systems.
A. G. Nouri et al 2024 ApJS 272 34
A novel methodology is developed to extract accurate skeletal reaction models for nuclear combustion. Local sensitivities of isotope mass fractions with respect to reaction rates are modeled based on the forced optimally time-dependent (f-OTD) scheme. These sensitivities are then analyzed temporally to generate skeletal models. The methodology is demonstrated by conducting skeletal reduction of constant density and temperature burning of carbon and oxygen relevant to Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). The 495-isotopes Torch model is chosen as the detailed reaction network. A map of maximum production of 56Ni in SNe Ia is produced for different temperatures, densities, and proton-to-neutron ratios. The f-OTD simulations and the sensitivity analyses are then performed with initial conditions from this map. A series of skeletal models are derived and their performances are assessed by comparison against currently existing skeletal models. Previous models have been constructed intuitively by assuming the dominance of α-chain reactions. The comparison of the newly generated skeletal models against previous models is based on the predicted energy release and 44Ti and 56Ni abundances by each model. The consequences of ye ≠ 0.5 in the initial composition are also explored where ye is the electron fraction. The simulated results show that 56Ni production decreases by decreasing ye as expected, and that the 43Sc is a key isotope in proton and neutron channels toward 56Ni production. It is shown that an f-OTD skeletal model with 150 isotopes can accurately predict the 56Ni abundance in SNe Ia for ye ≲ 0.5 initial conditions.
Xiaojing Lin et al 2024 ApJS 272 33
The James Webb Space Telescope provides an unprecedented opportunity for unbiased surveys of Hα-emitting galaxies at z > 4 with the NIRCam's wide-field slitless spectroscopy (WFSS). In this work, we present a census of Lyα escape fraction (fesc,Lyα) of 165 star-forming galaxies at z = 4.9–6.3, utilizing their Hα emission directly measured from FRESCO NIRCam/WFSS data. We search for Lyα emission of each Hα-emitting galaxy in the Very Large Telescope/MUSE data. The overall fesc,Lyα measured by stacking is 0.090 ± 0.006. We find that fesc,Lyα displays a strong dependence on the observed UV slope (βobs) and E(B − V), such that the bluest galaxies (βobs ∼ −2.5) have the largest escape fractions (fesc,Lyα ≈ 0.6), indicative of the crucial role of dust and gas in modulating the escape of Lyα photons. fesc,Lyα is less well related to other parameters, including the UV luminosity and stellar mass, and the variation in fesc,Lyα with them can be explained by their underlying coupling with E(B − V) or βobs. Our results suggest a tentative decline in fesc,Lyα at z ≳ 5, implying increasing intergalactic medium attenuation toward higher redshift. Furthermore, the dependence of fesc,Lyα on βobs is proportional to that of the ionizing photon escape fraction (fesc,LyC), indicating that the escape of Lyα and ionizing photon may be regulated by similar physical processes. With fesc,Lyα as a proxy to fesc,LyC, we infer that UV-faint (MUV > −16) galaxies contribute >70% of the total ionizing emissivity at z = 5–6. If these relations hold during the epoch of reionization, UV-faint galaxies can contribute the majority of UV photon budget to reionize the Universe.
Caleb K. Harada et al 2024 ApJS 272 30
The Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics 2020 has recommended that NASA realize a large IR/optical/UV space telescope optimized for high-contrast imaging and spectroscopy of ∼25 exo-Earths and transformative general astrophysics. The NASA Exoplanet Exploration Program (ExEP) has subsequently released a list of 164 nearby (d < 25 pc) targets deemed the most accessible to survey for potentially habitable exoplanets with the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO). We present a catalog of system properties for the 164 ExEP targets, including 1744 abundance measurements for 14 elements from the Hypatia Catalog and 924 photometry measurements spanning from 151.6 nm to 22 μm in the GALEX, Strömgren, Tycho, Gaia, Two Micron All Sky Survey, and Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer bandpasses. We independently derive stellar properties for these systems by modeling their spectral energy distributions with Bayesian model averaging. Additionally, by consulting the literature, we identify TESS flare rates for 46 stars, optical variability for 78 stars, and X-ray emission for 46 stars in our sample. We discuss our catalog in the context of planet habitability and draw attention to key gaps in our knowledge where precursor science can help to inform HWO mission design trade studies in the near future. Notably, only 33 of the 164 stars in our sample have reliable space-based UV measurements, and only 40 have a mid-IR measurement. We also find that phosphorus, a bioessential element, has only been measured in 11 of these stars, motivating future abundance surveys. Our catalog is publicly available and we advocate for its use in future studies of promising HWO targets.
Alex S. Polanski et al 2024 ApJS 272 32
The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has discovered hundreds of new worlds, with TESS planet candidates now outnumbering the total number of confirmed planets from Kepler. Owing to differences in survey design, TESS continues to provide planets that are better suited for subsequent follow-up studies, including mass measurement through radial velocity (RV) observations, compared to Kepler targets. In this work, we present the TESS-Keck Survey's (TKS) Mass Catalog: a uniform analysis of all TKS RV survey data that has resulted in mass constraints for 126 planets and candidate signals. This includes 58 mass measurements that have reached ≥5σ precision. We confirm or validate 32 new planets from the TESS mission either by significant mass measurement (15) or statistical validation (17), and we find no evidence of likely false positives among our entire sample. This work also serves as a data release for all previously unpublished TKS survey data, including 9,204 RV measurements and associated activity indicators over our three-year survey. We took the opportunity to assess the performance of our survey and found that we achieved many of our goals, including measuring the mass of 38 small (<4 R⊕) planets, nearly achieving the TESS mission's basic science requirement. In addition, we evaluated the performance of the Automated Planet Finder as survey support and observed meaningful constraints on system parameters, due to its more uniform phase coverage. Finally, we compared our measured masses to those predicted by commonly used mass–radius relations and investigated evidence of systematic bias.