arXiv subjects

A. W. Stephens

Publications and source records attributed to A. W. Stephens.

17 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2023

The two rings of (50000) Quaoar

Quaoar is a classical Trans-Neptunian Object (TNO) with an area equivalent diameter of 1,100 km and an orbital semi-major axis of 43.3 astronomical units. Based on stellar occultations observed between 2018 and 2021, an inhomogeneous ring (Q1R, Quaoar's first ring) was detected around this body. Aims. A new stellar occultation by Quaoar was observed on August 9th, 2022 aiming to improve Quaoar's shape models and the physical parameters of Q1R while searching for additional material around the body. Methods. The occultation provided nine effective chords across Quaoar, pinning down its size, shape, and astrometric position. Large facilities, such as Gemini North and the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), were used to obtain high acquisition rates and signal-to-noise ratios. The light curves were also used to characterize the Q1R ring (radial profiles and orbital elements). Results. Quaoar's elliptical fit to the occultation chords yields the limb with an apparent semi-major axis of $579.5\pm4.0$ km, apparent oblateness of $0.12\pm0.01$, and area-equivalent radius of $543\pm2$ km. Quaoar's limb orientation is consistent with Q1R and Weywot orbiting in Quaoar's equatorial plane. The orbital radius of Q1R is refined to a value of $4,057\pm6$ km. The radial opacity profile of the more opaque ring profile follows a Lorentzian shape that extends over 60 km, with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of $\sim5$ km and a peak normal optical depth of 0.4. Besides the secondary events related to the already reported rings, new secondary events detected during the August 2022 occultation in three different data sets are consistent with another ring around Quaoar with a radius of $2,520\pm20$ km, assuming the ring is circular and co-planar with Q1R. This new ring has a typical width of 10 km and a normal optical depth of $\sim$0.004. Like Q1R, it also lies outside Quaoar's classical Roche limit.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2021

The mass distribution in the Galactic Centre from interferometric astrometry of multiple stellar orbits

The stars orbiting the compact radio source Sgr A* in the Galactic Centre are precision probes of the gravitational field around the closest massive black hole. In addition to adaptive optics assisted astrometry (with NACO / VLT) and spectroscopy (with SINFONI / VLT, NIRC2 / Keck and GNIRS / Gemini) over three decades, since 2016/2017 we have obtained 30-100 mu-as astrometry with the four-telescope interferometric beam combiner GRAVITY / VLTI reaching a sensitivity of mK = 20 when combining data from one night. We present the simultaneous detection of several stars within the diffraction limit of a single telescope, illustrating the power of interferometry. The new data for the stars S2, S29, S38 and S55 yield significant accelerations between March and July 2021, as these stars pass the pericenters of their orbits between 2018 and 2023. This allows for a high-precision determination of the gravitational potential around Sgr A*. Our data are in excellent agreement with general relativity orbits around a single central point mass, M = 4.30 x 10^6 M_sun with a precision of about +-0.25%. We improve the significance of our detection of the Schwarzschild precession in the S2 orbit to 7 sigma. Assuming plausible density profiles, an extended mass component inside S2's apocentre (= 0.23" or 2.4 x 10^4 R_S) must be 3000 M_sun (1 sigma), or 0.1% of M. Adding the enclosed mass determinations from 13 stars orbiting Sgr A* at larger radii, the innermost radius at which the excess mass beyond Sgr A* tentatively is seen is r = 2.5" >= 10x the apocentre of S2. This is in full harmony with the stellar mass distribution (including stellar-mass black holes) obtained from the spatially resolved luminosity function.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2018

The Globular Cluster NGC 6402 (M14). II. Variable Stars

We present time-series $BVI$ photometry for the Galactic globular cluster NGC 6402 (M14). The data consists of $\sim$137 images per filter, obtained using the 0.9m and 1.0m SMARTS telescopes at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. The images were obtained during two observing runs in 2006-2007. The image-subtraction package ISIS, along with DAOPHOT II/ALLFRAME, were used to perform crowded-field photometry and search for variable stars. We identified 130 variables, 8 of which are new discoveries. The variable star population is comprised of 56 ab-type RR Lyrae stars, 54 c-type RR Lyrae, 6 type II Cepheids, 1 W UMa star, 1 detached eclipsing binary, and 12 long-period variables. We provide Fourier decomposition parameters for the RR Lyrae, and discuss the physical parameters and photometric metallicity derived therefrom. The M14 distance modulus is also discussed, based on different approaches for the calibration of the absolute magnitudes of RR Lyrae stars. The possible presence of second-overtone RR Lyrae in M14 is critically addressed, with our results arguing against this possibility. By considering all of the RR Lyrae stars as members of the cluster, we derive $\langle P_{ab}\rangle = 0.589$ d. This, together with the position of the RR Lyrae stars of both Bailey types in the period-amplitude diagram, suggests an Oosterhoff-intermediate classification for the cluster. Such an intermediate Oosterhoff type is much more commonly found in nearby extragalactic systems, and we critically discuss several other possible indications that may point to an extragalactic origin for this cluster.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2013

The Globular Cluster NGC 6402 (M14). I. A New BV Color-Magnitude Diagram

We present BV photometry of the Galactic globular cluster NGC 6402 (M14), based on 65 V frames and 67 B frames, reaching two magnitudes below the turn-off level. This represents, to the best of our knowledge, the deepest color-magnitude diagram (CMD) of NGC 6402 available in the literature. Statistical decontamination of field stars as well as differential reddening corrections are performed in order to derive a precise ridgeline and derive physical parameters of the cluster therefrom. We discuss previous attempts to derive a reddening value for the cluster, and argue in favor of a value E(B-V) = 0.57 +/- 0.02, which is significantly higher than indicated by either the Burstein & Heiles or Schlegel et al. (corrected according to Bonifacio et al.) interstellar dust maps. Differential reddening across the face of the cluster, which we find to be present at the level of Delta E(B-V) ~ 0.17 mag, is taken into account in our analysis. We measure several metallicity indicators based on the position of the red giant branch (RGB) in the cluster CMD. These give a metallicity of [Fe/H] = -1.38 +/- 0.07 in the Zinn & West scale and [Fe/H] = -1.28 +/- 0.08 in the new Carretta et al. (UVES) scale. We also provide measurements of other important photometric parameters for this cluster, including the position of the RGB luminosity function "bump" and the horizontal branch (HB) morphology. We compare the NGC 6402 ridgeline with the one for NGC 5904 (M5) derived by Sandquist et al., and find evidence that NGC 6402 and M5 have approximately the same age, to within the uncertainties -- although the possibility that M14 may be slighlty older cannot be ruled out.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2011

The Yellow Supergiant Progenitor of the Type II Supernova 2011dh in M51

We present the detection of the progenitor of the Type II SN 2011dh in archival pre-explosion Hubble Space Telescope images. Using post-explosion Adaptive Optics imaging with Gemini NIRI+ALTAIR, the position of the SN in the pre-explosion images was determined to within 23mas. The progenitor object was found to be consistent with a F8 supergiant star (log L/L_{\odot}=4.92+/-0.20 and T_{eff}=6000+/-280K). Through comparison with stellar evolution tracks, this corresponds to a single star at the end of core C-burning with an initial mass of M_{ZAMS}=13+/-3M_{\odot}. The possibility of the progenitor source being a cluster is rejected, on the basis of: 1) the source is not spatially extended; 2) the absence of excess Hα\, emission; and 3) the poor fit to synthetic cluster SEDs. It is unclear if a binary companion is contributing to the observed SED, although given the excellent correspondence of the observed photometry to a single star SED we suggest the companion does not contribute significantly. Early photometric and spectroscopic observations show fast evolution similar to the transitional Type IIb SN 2008ax, and suggest that a large amount of the progenitor's hydrogen envelope was removed before explosion.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2010

On the nature of the progenitors of three type II-P supernovae: 2004et, 2006my and 2006ov

The pre-explosion observations of the type II-P supernovae 2006my, 2006ov and 2004et, are re-analysed. In the cases of supernovae 2006my and 2006ov we argue that the published candidate progenitors are not coincident with their respective supernova sites in pre-explosion Hubble Space Telescope observations. We therefore derive upper luminosity and mass limits for the unseen progenitors of both these supernovae, assuming they are red supergiants: 2006my (log L/Lsun = 4.51; mass < 13Msun) and 2006ov (log L/Lsun = 4.29; mass < 10Msun). In the case of supernova 2004et we show that the yellow-supergiant progenitor candidate, originally identified in Canada France Hawaii Telescope images, is still visible ~3 years post-explosion in observations from the William Herschel Telescope. High-resolution Hubble Space Telescope and Gemini (North) adaptive optics late-time imagery reveal that this source is not a single yellow supergiant star, but rather is resolved into at least three distinct sources. We report the discovery of the unresolved progenitor as an excess of flux in pre-explosion Isaac Newton Telescope i'-band imaging. Accounting for the late-time contribution of the supernova using published optical spectra, we calculate the progenitor photometry as the difference between the pre- and post-explosion, ground-based observations. We find the progenitor was most likely a late K to late M-type supergiant of 8 +5/-1 Msun. In all cases we conclude that future, high-resolution observations of the supernova sites will be required to confirm these results.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

A glimpse of the end of the dark ages: the gamma-ray burst of 23 April 2009 at redshift 8.3

It is thought that the first generations of massive stars in the Universe were an important, and quite possibly dominant, source of the ultra-violet radiation that reionized the hydrogen gas in the intergalactic medium (IGM); a state in which it has remained to the present day. Measurements of cosmic microwave background anisotropies suggest that this phase-change largely took place in the redshift range z=10.8 +/- 1.4, while observations of quasars and Lyman-alpha galaxies have shown that the process was essentially completed by z=6. However, the detailed history of reionization, and characteristics of the stars and proto-galaxies that drove it, remain unknown. Further progress in understanding requires direct observations of the sources of ultra-violet radiation in the era of reionization, and mapping the evolution of the neutral hydrogen fraction through time. The detection of galaxies at such redshifts is highly challenging, due to their intrinsic faintness and high luminosity distance, whilst bright quasars appear to be rare beyond z~7. Here we report the discovery of a gamma-ray burst, GRB 090423, at redshift z=8.26 -0.08 +0.07. This is well beyond the redshift of the most distant spectroscopically confirmed galaxy (z=6.96) and quasar (z=6.43). It establishes that massive stars were being produced, and dying as GRBs, ~625 million years after the Big Bang. In addition, the accurate position of the burst pinpoints the location of the most distant galaxy known to date. Larger samples of GRBs beyond z~7 will constrain the evolving rate of star formation in the early universe, while rapid spectroscopy of their afterglows will allow direct exploration of the progress of reionization with cosmic time.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2008

The Globular Cluster NGC 5286. I. A New CCD BV Color-Magnitude Diagram

We present BV photometry of the Galactic globular cluster NGC 5286, based on 128 V frames and 133 B frames, and covering the entire face of the cluster. Our photometry reaches almost two magnitudes below the turn-off level, and is accordingly suitable for an age analysis. Field stars were removed statistically from the cluster's color-magnitude diagram (CMD), and a differential reddening correction applied, thus allowing a precise ridgeline to be calculated. Using the latter, a metallicity of [Fe/H] = -1.70 +/- 0.10 in the Zinn & West scale, and [Fe/H] = -1.47 +/- 0.02 in the Carretta & Gratton scale, was derived on the basis of several parameters measured from the red giant branch, in good agreement with the value provided in the Harris catalog. Comparing the NGC 5286 CMD with the latest photometry for M3 by P. B. Stetson (2008, priv. comm.), and using VandenBerg isochrones for a suitable chemical composition, we find evidence that NGC 5286 is around 1.7 +/- 0.9 Gyr older than M3. This goes in the right sense to help account for the blue horizontal branch of NGC 5286, for which we provide a measurement of several morphological indicators. If NGC 5286 is a bona fide member of the Canis Major dwarf spheroidal galaxy, as previously suggested, our results imply that the latter's oldest components may be at least as old as the oldest Milky Way globular clusters.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

The type IIb SN 2008ax: the nature of the progenitor

A source coincident with the position of the type IIb supernova (SN) 2008ax is identified in pre-explosion Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 observations in three optical filters. We identify and constrain two possible progenitor systems: (i) a single massive star that lost most of its hydrogen envelope through radiatively driven mass loss processes, prior to exploding as a helium-rich Wolf-Rayet star with a residual hydrogen envelope, and (ii) an interacting binary in a low mass cluster producing a stripped progenitor. Late time, high resolution observations along with detailed modelling of the SN will be required to reveal the true nature of this progenitor star.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

Massive stars exploding in a He-rich circumstellar medium III. SN 2006jc: IR echoes from new and old dust in the progenitor CSM

We present near- and mid-infrared (IR) photometric data of the Type Ibn supernova (SN) 2006jc obtained with the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT), the Gemini North Telescope, and the Spitzer Space Telescope between days 86 and 493 post-explosion. We find that the IR behaviour of SN 2006jc can be explained as a combination of IR echoes from two manifestations of circumstellar material. The bulk of the near-IR emission arises from an IR echo from newly-condensed dust in a cool dense shell (CDS) produced by the interaction of the ejecta outward shock with a dense shell of circumstellar material ejected by the progenitor in a luminous blue variable (LBV) like outburst about two years prior to the SN explosion. The CDS dust mass reaches a modest 3.0 x 10^(-4) M(solar) by day 230. While dust condensation within a CDS formed behind the ejecta inward shock has been proposed before for one event (SN 1998S), SN 2006jc is the first one showing evidence for dust condensation in a CDS formed behind the ejecta outward shock in the circumstellar material. At later epochs, a substantial and growing contribution to the IR fluxes arises from an IR echo from pre-existing dust in the progenitor wind. The mass of the pre-existing CSM dust is at least ~8 x 10^(-3) M(solar). This work therefore adds to the evidence that mass-loss from the progenitors of core-collapse supernovae could be a major source of dust in the universe. However, yet again, we see no direct evidence that the explosion of a supernova produces anything other than a very modest amount of dust.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

The Globular Cluster M15. I. Identification, Discovery, and Period Determination of Variable Stars

We present new $BVI$ CCD photometry for variables in the globular cluster M15. Our photometry was obtained using both the image subtraction package ISIS and DAOPHOT/ALLFRAME. The data were acquired in 2001 on two observing runs on 11 observing nights using the 2-m telescope of the Bulgarian National Astronomical Observatory ``Rozhen'' with a Photometrics CCD camera. For 40 previously known variables, we present a period for the first time, and improved periods were obtained for many previously known variables. Fourteen new variables are reported. We present updated Bailey diagrams for the cluster and discuss its Oosterhoff classification. Although many of M15's RRab pulsators fall at an intermediate locus between Oosterhoff types I and II in the Bailey diagram, we argue that M15 is indeed a bona-fide Oosterhoff type II

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

Discovery of new Milky Way star cluster candidates in the 2MASS point source catalog III. Follow-up observations of cluster candidates in the Galactic Center region

This paper is part of a project to search the inner Milky Way for hidden massive clusters and to address the question of whether our Galaxy still forms clusters similar to the progenitors of the present-day globular clusters. We report high angular resolution deep near-infrared imaging of 21 cluster candidates selected from the catalogues of Bica et al. (2003) and Dutra et al.(2003) in a region around the Galactic Center. These catalogues were created from visual inspection of the 2MASS images. Seven objects appear to be genuine clusters, and for these objects we present estimates of extinction, distance and in some cases age and mass. Our estimated masses range from 1200 to 5500 solar masses. These clusters are thus significantly smaller than any Galactic globular cluster, and indicate that the formation of massive young clusters such as Arches and Quintuplet is not common in the present-day Milky Way. The remaining 14 objects are either not clusters or cannot be classified based on our data.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2004

Deep ALTAIR + NIRI Imaging of the Disk and Bulge of M31

Deep J, H, and K' images, recorded with the ALTAIR adaptive optics system and NIRI imager on Gemini North, are used to probe the stellar content of the disk and bulge of the Local Group galaxy M31. With FWHM near 0.08 arcsec in K, these are the highest angular resolution near-infrared images yet obtained of this galaxy. Four fields that sample M31 at galactocentric radii of 62, 9, 4, and 2 arcmin were observed. The RGB-tip occurs between K = 17.0 and 17.2, and the color of the RGB in the field closest to the center of M31 is consistent with that of NGC 6528. After accounting for random photometric errors, the upper RGB in each field has a width on the (K, J-K) CMD that is consistent with a +/- 0.5 dex dispersion in [Fe/H], in rough agreement with what is seen in other disk and spheroid fields in M31. A population of very bright red stars, which we identify as C stars, are seen in the three fields that are closest to the center of M31. The spatial distribution of these objects suggests that they are well mixed throughout this part of M31, and so likely did not form in a compact region near the galactic nucleus, but more probably formed in the inner disk. We speculate that these C stars may be the most luminous members of the intermediate age population that has been detected previously in studies of the integrated spectrum of the central regions of M31.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2001

An Accurate, Easy to Use Abundace Scale for Globular Clusters Based on 2.2um Spectra of Giant Stars

We present a new method for the determination of [Fe/H] for globular clusters. This new method is based on moderate resolution (R~1500) near-IR spectroscopy in the K-band of 6 to 10 of the brightest giants in a cluster. Our calibration is derived from spectra of 105 stars in 15 globular clusters. From measurements of the equivalent widths of three features in these spectra, Na, Ca, and CO, we are able to reproduce the Zinn & West (1984) abundance scale as updated by Harris (1996) to better than 0.10 dex for clusters with near solar [Fe/H] down to an [Fe/H] of -1.8. Three advantages of this method are that it can be used for metal rich, heavily reddened globulars in crowded fields, it does not require any knowledge of any other cluster or stellar parameters such as reddening, distance, or luminosity, and it requires only minimal telescope time. If stellar (J-K)0 and MK values are available as well, the accuracy of the [Fe/H] estimate is further improved. Observations of as few as three stars per cluster still gives an [Fe/H] estimate wich is nearly as reliable as that based on two to three times as many stars. The accuracy of an [Fe/H] value based on observations of CO absorption alone is significantly less than that which results from the three spectroscopic indices. However, we predict that space-based observations of this feature in the integrated light of stellar systems will prove to be of great value for abundance determinations at distances as far as the Coma cluster of galaxies.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2000

HST-NICMOS Observations of M31's Metal Rich Globular Clusters and Their Surrounding Fields: I. Techniques

We have obtained HST-NICMOS observations of five of M31's most metal rich globular clusters. These data allow photometry of individual stars in the clusters and their surrounding fields. However, to achieve our goals -- obtain accurate luminosity functions to compare with their Galactic counterparts, determine metallicities from the slope of the giant branch, identify long period variables, and estimate ages from the AGB tip luminosity, we must be able to disentangle the true properties of the population from the observational effects associated with measurements made in very crowded fields. In this paper we present a careful analysis of photometry in crowded regions, and show how image blending affects the results and interpretation of such data. Although this analysis is specifically for our NICMOS observations in M31, the techniques we develop can be applied to any imaging data taken in crowded fields; we show how the effects of image blending will even limit NGST. We use three different techniques to analyze the effects of crowding on our data, including the insertion of artificial stars (traditional completeness tests) and the creation of completely artificial clusters. They are used to derive threshold- and critical-blending radii for each cluster, which determine how close to the cluster center reliable photometry can be achieved. The simulations also allow us to quantify and correct for the effects of blending on the slope and width of the RGB at different surface brightness levels.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2000

HST-NICMOS Observations of M31's Metal Rich Globular Clusters and Their Surrounding Fields: II. Results

We have obtained HST-NICMOS observations of five of M31's most metal rich globular clusters: G1, G170, G174, G177 & G280. For the two clusters farthest from the nucleus we statistically subtract the field population and estimate metallicities using K-(J-K) color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs). Based on the slopes of their infrared giant branches we estimate [Fe/H]=-1.22+/-0.43 for G1 and -0.15+/-0.37 for G280. We combine our infrared observations of G1 with two epochs of optical HST-WFPC2 V-band data and identify at least one LPV based on color and variability. The location of G1's giant branch in the K-(V-K) CMD is very similar to that of M107, indicating a higher metallicity than our purely infrared CMD: [Fe/H]=-0.9+/-0.2. For the field surrounding G280, we estimate the metallicity to be -1.3 with a spread of 0.5 from the slope and width of the giant branch. Based on the numbers and luminosities of the brightest giants, we conclude that only a small fraction of the stars in this field could be as young as 2 Gyr, while the majority have ages closer to 10 Gyr. The K-band luminosity functions (LFs) of the upper few magnitudes of G1 and G280, as well as for the fields surrounding all clusters, are indistinguishable from the LF measured in the bulge of our Galaxy. This indicates that these clusters are very similar to Galactic clusters, and at least in the surrounding fields observed, there are no significant populations of young luminous stars.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1999

The Initial Mass Function of the Galactic Bulge Down to ~0.15 Msun

We present a luminosity function (LF) for lower main sequence stars in the Galactic bulge near (l,b)=(0,-6) to J=24, corresponding to M_J~9.3. This LF is derived from HST + NICMOS observations with the F110W and F160W filters. The main sequence locus in the infrared shows a strong change in slope at J~20.5 (M_J~5.75) which is well fit by new low mass models that include water and molecular hydrogen opacity. Our derived mass function (which is not corrected for binary companions) is the deepest measured to date in the bulge, and extends to 0.15 $M_\odot$ with a power law slope of $α=-1.33\pm0.07$; a Salpeter mass function would have $α=-2.35$. We also combine our J band LF with previously published data for the evolved stars to produce a bulge LF spanning ~15 magnitudes. We show that this mass function has negligible dependence on the adopted bulge metallicity and distance modulus. Although shallower than the Salpeter slope, the slope of the bulge IMF is steeper than that recently found for the Galactic disk ($α=-0.8$ and $α=-0.54$ from the data of Reid & Gizis, 1997, and Gould et al. 1997, respectively, in the same mass interval), but is virtually identical to the disk IMF derived by Kroupa et al. (1993). The bulge IMF is also quite similar to the mass functions derived for those globular clusters which are believed to have experienced little or no dynamical evolution. Finally, we derive the $M/L_J$ ratio of the bulge to be $\sim 0.9\pm0.1$ $M_\odot/L_\odot$, and briefly discuss the implications of this bulge IMF for the interpretation of the microlensing events observed in the direction of the Galactic bulge.

astro-ph↗