arXiv subjects

Chih-Hao Hsia

Publications and source records attributed to Chih-Hao Hsia.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

A Large Outburst, Coma Asymmetries, and the Color of Comet 243P/NEAT

Water ice is a fundamental building material of comets and other bodies in the outer solar system. Yet, the properties of cometary water ice are challenging to study, due to its volatility and the typical distances at which comets are observed. Cometary outbursts, impulsive mass-loss events that can liberate large amounts of material, offer opportunities to directly observe and characterize cometary water ice. We present a study of comet 243P/NEAT, instigated by a $-3$ mag outburst that occurred in December 2018. Optical images and a 251-day lightcurve were examined to characterize the outburst and the comet's quiescent activity. Variations in the quiescent lightcurve appear to be dominated by coma asymmetries, rather than changing activity levels as the comet approached and receded from the Sun. Furthermore, the lightcurve shows evidence for 1 to 2 additional small outbursts ($-0.3$ mag) occurring in September 2018. The large December 2018 outburst likely ejected water ice grains, yet no signatures of ice were found in color photometry, a color map, nor a near-infrared spectrum. We discuss possible dynamical and thermal reasons for this non-detection. In this context, we examined the comae of comets 103P/Hartley 2 and C/2013 US$_{10}$ (Catalina), and show that a one-to-one mapping between continuum color and the presence of water ice cannot be supported. We also discuss possible causes for the large outburst, and find that there is an apparent grouping in the kinetic energy per mass estimates for the outbursts of 5 comets.

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arXiv2024

FAST Observations of Four Comets to Search for the Molecular Line Emissions between 1.0 and 1.5 GHz Frequencies

We used the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) to search for the molecular emissions in the L-band between 1.0 and 1.5 GHz toward four comets, C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE), C/2020 R4 (ATLAS), C/2021 A1 (Leonard), and 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko during or after their perihelion passages. Thousands of molecular transition lines fall in this low-frequency range, many attributed to complex organic or prebiotic molecules. We conducted a blind search for the possible molecular lines in this frequency range in those comets and could not identify clear signals of molecular emissions in the data. Although several molecules have been detected at high frequencies of great than 100 GHz in comets, our results confirm that it is challenging to detect molecular transitions in the L-band frequency ranges. The non-detection of L-band molecular lines in the cometary environment could rule out the possibility of unusually strong lines, which could be caused by the masers or non-LTE effects. Although the line strengths are predicted to be weak, for FAST, using the ultra-wide bandwidth receiver and improving the radio frequency interference environments would enhance the detectability of those molecular transitions at low frequencies in the future.

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arXiv2023

Systematic Search for Water Fountain Candidates using the Databases of Circumstellar Maser Sources

Water fountains (WFs) are thought to be objects in the morphological evolution of the circumstellar envelopes of low- and intermediate-mass evolved stars, transitioning from spherically symmetric to asymmetric shapes. We used databases of circumstellar 1612 MHz OH and 22.235 GHz H$_2$O maser sources to search for new WF candidates using the criterion of a larger velocity range of the H$_2$O maser emission compared to that of the OH maser emission. Thus, it is in principle possible to identify WFs with an H$_2$O velocity ranges smaller than those for the previously known WFs. For the OH maser line, we analyzed database entries of 8,474 observations from 2,195 sources, and 6,085 observations from 3,642 sources for H$_2$O maser line. After a close examination of the velocity ranges and line profiles, we identified 11 sources that meet the criterion mentioned above. We examined the IRAS colors of the selected sources and found that two of them (IRAS 19069+0916 and IRAS 19319+2214) are in the color region for post-AGB stars. We find that the maser velocity criterion can discover other astrophysically interesting objects than just WFs. Such objects may include peculiar planetary nebulae with maser emissions and stellar merger remnants.

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arXiv2022

LAMOST MRS-N Observations of the W80 Region

The spectral observations and analysis for the W80 Region are presented by using the data of Medium-Resolution Spectroscopic Survey of Nebulae (MRS-N) with the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopy Telescope (LAMOST). A total of 2982 high-quality nebular spectra have been obtained in the 20 square degree field of view (FoV) which covers the W80 complex, and the largest sample of spectral data have been established for the first time. The relative intensities, radial velocities (RVs), and Full Widths at Half Maximum (FWHMs) are measured with the high spectral resolution of LAMOST MRS, for H$α$ $λ$ 6563 Å, [\ion{N}{ii}] $λ$$λ$ 6548 Å, 6584 Å\ , and [\ion{S}{ii}] $λ$$λ$ 6716 Å, 6731 Å\ emission lines. In the field of view of whole W80 Region, the strongest line emissions are found to be consistent with the bright nebulae, NGC 7000, IC 5070, and LBN 391, and weak line emissions also truly exist in the Middle Region, where no bright nebulae are detected by the wide-band optical observations. The large-scale spectral observations to the W80 Region reveal the systematic spatial variations of RVs and FWHMs, and several unique structural features. A 'curved feature' to the east of the NGC 7000, and a 'jet feature' to the west of the LBN 391 are detected to be showing with larger radial velocities. A 'wider FWHM region' is identified in the eastern part of the NGC 7000. The variations of [\ion{S}{ii}] / H$α$ ratios display a gradient from southwest to northeast in the NGC 7000 region, and manifest a ring shape around the 'W80 bubble' ionized by an O-type star in the L935. Further spectral and multi-band observations are guaranteed to investigate in detail the structural features.

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arXiv2022

The Data Processing of the LAMOST Medium-Resolution Spectral Survey of Galactic Nebulae (LAMOST MRS-N Pipeline)

The Large sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) medium-resolution spectral survey of Galactic Nebulae (MRS-N) has conducted for three years since Sep. 2018 and observed more than 190 thousands nebular spectra and 20 thousands stellar spectra. However, there is not yet a data processing pipeline for nebular data. To significantly improve the accuracy of nebulae classification and their physical parameters, we developed the MRS-N Pipeline. This article presented in detail each data processing step of the MRS-N Pipeline, such as removing cosmic rays, merging single exposure, fitting sky light emission lines, subtracting skylight, wavelength recalibration, measuring nebular parameters, creating catalogs and packing spectra. Finally, a description of the data products, including nebular spectra files and parameter catalogs, is provided.

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arXiv2021

Morphological study of the nested planetary nebula Hubble 12

We present a visible-infrared imaging study of young planetary nebula (PN) Hubble 12 (Hb 12; PN G111.8-02.8) obtained with Hubble Space Telescope (HST) archival data and our own Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) measurements. Deep HST and CFHT observations of this nebula reveal three pairs of bipolar structures and an arc-shaped filament near the western waist of Hb 12. The existence of nested bipolar lobes together with the presence of H2 knots suggests that these structures originated from several mass-ejection events during the pre-PN phase. To understand the intrinsic structures of Hb 12, a three-dimensional model enabling the visualisation of this PN at various orientations was constructed. The modelling results show that Hb 12 may resemble other nested hourglass nebulae, such as Hen 2-320 and M 2-9, suggesting that this type of PN may be common and the morphologies of PNs are not so diverse as is shown by their visual appearances. The infrared spectra show that this PN has a mixed chemistry. We discuss the possible material that may cause the unidentified infrared emissions. The analyses of the infrared spectra and the spectral energy distribution suggest the existence of a cool companion in the nucleus of this object.

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arXiv2021

LAMOST Medium-Resolution Spectral Survey of Galactic Nebulae (LAMOST-MRS-N): Subtraction of Geocoronal Halpha Emission

We introduce a method of subtracting geocoronal Halpha emissions from the spectra of LAMOST medium-resolution spectral survey of Galactic nebulae (LAMOST-MRS-N). The flux ratios of the Halpha sky line to the adjacent OH lambda6554 single line do not show a pattern or gradient distribution in a plate. More interestingly, the ratio is well correlated to solar altitude, which is the angle of the sun relative to the Earth's horizon. It is found that the ratio decreases from 0.8 to 0.2 with the decreasing solar altitude from -17 to -73 degree. Based on this relation, which is described by a linear function, we can construct the Halpha sky component and subtract it from the science spectrum. This method has been applied to the LAMOST-MRS-N data, and the contamination level of the Halpha sky to nebula is reduced from 40% to less than 10%. The new generated spectra will significantly improve the accuracy of the classifications and the measurements of physical parameters of Galactic nebulae.

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arXiv2021

Spectral Deconvolution Analysis on Olivine-Orthopyroxene Mixtures with Simulated Space Weathering Modifications

Olivine and pyroxene are important mineral end-members for studying the sur-face material compositions of mafic bodies. The profiles of visible and near-infraredspectra of olivine-orthopyroxene mixtures systematically varied with their compositionratios. In our experiments, we combine the RELAB spectral database with a new spec-tral data obtained from some assembled olivine-orthopyroxene mixtures. We found thatthe commonly-used band area ratio (BAR, Cloutis et al. 1986) does not work well onour newly obtained spectral data. To investigate this issue, an empirical procedure basedon fitted results by modified Gaussian model is proposed to analyze the spectral curves.Following the new empirical procedure, the end-member abundances can be estimatedwith a 15% accuracy with some prior mineral absorption features. In addition, the mix-ture samples configured in our experiments are also irradiated by pulsed lasers to simulateand investigate the space weathering effects. Spectral deconvolution results confirm thatlow-content olivine on celestial bodies are difficult to measure and estimate. Therefore,the olivine abundance of space weathered materials may be underestimated from remotesensing data. This study may be used to quantify the spectral relationship of olivine-orthopyroxene mixtures and further reveal their correlation between the spectra of ordi-nary chondrites and silicate asteroids.

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arXiv2020

A New Transition Wolf-Rayet WN/C Star in the Milky Way

We report the discovery of a new transition type Wolf-Rayet (WR) WN/C star in the Galaxy. According to its coordinates (R.A., Dec)J2000 = 18h51m39.7s, -05d34m51.1s, and the distance (7.11 kpc away from Earth) inferred from the second Gaia, data release, it's found that WR 121-16 is located in the Far 3 kpc Arm, and it is 3.75 kpc away from the Galactic Center. The optical spectra obtained by the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) and the 2.16 m telescope, both located at the Xinglong Observatory in China, indicate that this is a WR star of the transitional WN7o/WC subtype. A current stellar mass of about 7.1 M_solar, a mass-loss rate of M_dot = 10^(-4.97) M_solar/yr, a bolometric luminosity of log L/L_solar = 4.88, and a stellar temperature of T_* = 47 kK are derived, by fitting the observed spectrum with a specific Potsdam Wolf-Rayet (PoWR) model. The magnitude in V-band varies between 13.95 and 14.14 mag, while no period is found. Based on the optical spectra, the time domain data, and the indices of the astrometric solution of the Gaia data, WR 121-16 is likely a transitional WN/C single star rather than a WN+WC binary.

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arXiv2020

On the radial velocity calibrations in the LAMOST Medium-Resolution Spectroscopic Survey of Nebulae

Accurate radial velocity determinations of optical emission lines (i.e. [NII]$λλ$6548,6584, H$α$, and [SII]$λλ$6717,6731) are very important for investigating the kinematics and dynamics properties of nebulae. The second stage survey program of Large sky Area Multi-Object fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) has started a sub-survey of nebulae (MRS-N) which will spectroscopically observe the optical emission lines of a large sample of nebulae near the Galactic plane. Until now, 15 MRS-N plates have been observed from 2017 September to 2019 June. Based on fitting the sky emission lines in the red band spectra of MRS-N, we investigate the precision of wavelength calibration and find there are systematic deviations of radial velocities (RVs) from $\sim$0.2 to 4 km/s for different plates. Especially for the plates obtained in 2018 March, the systematic deviations of RVs can be as large as $\sim$4 km/s, which then go down to $\sim$0.2-0.5 km/s at the end of 2018 and January 2019. A RVs calibration function is proposed for these MRS-N plates, which can simultaneously and successfully calibration the systematic deviations and improve the precision of RVs.

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arXiv2020

LAMOST Medium-Resolution Spectral Survey of Galactic Nebula (LAMOST MRS-N): An overview of Scientific goals and Survey plan

Since Sep. 2018, LAMOST started the medium-resolution (R $\sim 7500$) spectral survey (MRS). We proposed the spectral survey of Galactic nebulae, including \hii\ regions, HH objects, supernova remnants, planetary nebulae and the special stars with MRS (LAMOST MRS-N). LAMOST MRS-N covers about 1700 square degrees of the northern Galactic plane within $40^\circ < l < 215^\circ$ and $-5^\circ < b < 5^\circ$. In this 5-year survey, we plan to observe about 500 thousand nebulae spectra. According to the commissioning observations, the nebulae spectra can provide precise radial velocity with uncertainty less than 1 km s$^{-1}$. These high-precision spectral data are of great significance to our understanding of star formation and evolution.

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arXiv2020

LAMOST Medium-Resolution Spectroscopic Survey (LAMOST-MRS): Scientific goals and survey plan

Since September 2018, LAMOST starts a new 5-year medium-resolution spectroscopic survey (MRS) using bright/gray nights. We present the scientific goals of LAMOST-MRS and propose a near optimistic strategy of the survey. A complete footprint is also provided. Not only the regular medium-resolution survey, but also a time-domain spectroscopic survey is being conducted since 2018 and will be end in 2023. According to the detailed survey plan, we expect that LAMOST-MRS can observe about 2 million stellar spectra with ~7500 and limiting magnitude of around G=15 mag. Moreover, it will also provide about 200 thousand stars with averagely 60-epoch observations and limiting magnitude of G~14 mag. These high quality spectra will give around 20 elemental abundances, rotational velocities, emission line profiles as well as precise radial velocity with uncertainty less than 1 km/s. With these data, we expect that LAMOST can effectively leverage sciences on stellar physics, e.g. exotic binary stars, detailed observation of many types of variable stars etc., planet host stars, emission nebulae, open clusters, young pre-main-sequence stars etc.

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arXiv2020

Hydrogenated Fullerenes (Fulleranes) in Space

Since the first laboratory synthesis of C$_{60}$ in 1985, fullerene-related species have been proposed to interpret various astronomical features. After more than 25 years' efforts, several circumstellar and interstellar features have been convincingly assigned to C$_{60}$, C$_{70}$, and C$_{60}^+$. These successes resulted from the recent advancements in observational, experimental, as well as computational techniques, and re-stimulated interest in searching for fullerene derivatives in space. As one of the most important fullerene derivatives, hydrogenated fullerene (fullerane) is likely to exist in circumstellar and interstellar conditions. This review gives an overview of the chemical properties and spectral signals of fulleranes focusing on those relevant to astronomy. We summarize previous proposals of fulleranes as the carrier of astronomical features at UV, optical, infrared, and radio wavelengths, and discuss the arguments favoring or disfavoring the presence of fulleranes in astronomical environments. Although no unambiguous detection of fulleranes in space has yet been reported, there are plausible evidences for supporting the formation of certain fullerane isomers.

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arXiv2020

Discovery of Extended Structures around Two Evolved Planetary Nebulae M 2-55 and Abell 2

We report a multi-wavelength study of two evolved planetary nebulae (PNs) M 2-55 and Abell 2. Deep optical narrow-band images ([O III], H?, and [N II]) of M 2-55 reveal two pairs of bipolar lobes and a new faint arc-like structure. This arc-shaped filament around M 2-55 appears a well-defined boundary from southwest to southeast, strongly suggesting that this nebula is in interaction with its surrounding interstellar medium. From the imaging data of Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) all-sky survey, we discovered extensive mid-infrared halos around these PNs, which are approximately twice larger than their main nebulae seen in the visible. We also present a mid-resolution optical spectrum of M 2-55, which shows that it is a high-excitation evolved PN with a low electron density of 250 cm^-3. Furthermore, we investigate the properties of these nebulae from their spectral energy distributions (SEDs) by means of archival data.

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arXiv2019

Low activity main belt comet 133P/Elst-Pizarro: New constraints on its Albedo, Temperature and Active Mechanism from a thermophysical perspective

133P/Elst-Pizarro is the firstly recognized main-belt comet, but we still know little about its nucleus. Firstly we use mid-infrared data of Spitzer-MIPS, Spitzer-IRS and WISE to estimate its effective diameter $D_{\rm eff}=3.9^{+0.4}_{-0.3}$ km, geometric albedo $p_{\rm v}=0.074\pm0.013$ and mean Bond albedo $A_{\rm eff,B}=0.024\pm0.004$. The albedo is used to compute 133P's temperature distribution, which shows significant seasonal variation, especially polar regions, ranging from $\sim40$ to $\sim200$ K. Based on current activity observations, the maximum water gas production rate is estimated to be $\sim1.4\times10^{23}\rm~s^{-1}$, being far weaker than $\sim10^{26}\rm~s^{-1}$ of JFC 67P at similar helio-centric distance $\sim2.7$ AU, indicating a thick dust mantle on the surface to lower down the gas production rate. The diameter of the sublimation area may be $<\sim200$ m according to our model prediction. We thus propose that 133P's activity is more likely to be caused by sublimation of regional near-surface ice patch rather than homogeneous buried ice layer. Such small near-surface ice patch might be exposed by one impact event, before which 133P may be an extinct comet (or ice-rich asteroid) with ice layer buried below $\sim$40 m depth. The proposed ice patch may be located somewhere within latitude $-50\sim50^\circ$ by comparing theoretical variation of sublimation temperature to the constraints from observations. The time scale to form such a thick dust mantle is estimated to be $>100$ Myr, indicating that 133P may be more likely to be a relatively old planetesimals or a member of an old family than a recently formed fragment of some young family.

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arXiv2019

Irregular changes in Hα emission line of V423 Aur observed by LAMOST Medium-Resolution Spectrographs

We obtained 7 spectra of the Be star V423 Aur on Dec. 5th, 2017 using the LAMOST Medium-Resolution Spectrograph with exposures from 600 to 1200 seconds. These spectra show the irregular Hα emission line profile variations (LPVs). In the seven spectra, from the 4th to 7th, the left part of Hα profile even show excess. However, no variation can be seen from the follow-up observation of photometry by 1.26-m telescope and High-Resolution spectra by 2.16-m telescope. According to the High-Resolution spectra, we conclude that it is a B7V type star with E(B-V)= 0.709{\pm}0.036 and its vsini is {\sim} 221.8km/s. The short-term Hα LPVs could be explained as a result of the transient ejection of matter from rotating disk or shell around V423 Aur.

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arXiv2019

A young multipolar planetary nebula in the making: IRAS 21282+5050

We present high-angular-resolution {\it Hubble Space Telescope (HST)} optical and near-infrared imaging of the compact planetary nebula (PN) IRAS 21282+5050. Optical images of this object reveal several complex morphological structures including three pairs of bipolar lobes and an elliptical shell lying close to the plane of the sky. From near-infrared observations, we found a dust torus oriented nearly perpendicular to the major axis of elliptical shell. The results suggest that IRAS 21282+5050 is a multipolar PN, and these structures developed early during the post asymptotic-giant-branch (AGB) evolution. From a three-dimensional (3-D) model, we derived the physical dimensions of these apparent structures. When the 3-D model is viewed from different orientations, IRAS 21282+5050 shows similar apparent structures as other multipolar PNs. Analysis of the spectral energy distribution and optical spectroscopic observations of the nebula suggests the presence of a cool companion to the hot central star responsible for the ionization of the nebula. Whether the binary nature of the central star has any relations with the multipolar structure of the nebula needs to be further investigated.

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arXiv2018

Extended Structures of Planetary Nebulae Detected in H$_{2}$ Emission

We present narrow-band near-infrared images of a sample of 11 Galactic planetary nebulae (PNe) obtained in the molecular hydrogen (H$_{2}$) 2.122 $μ$m and Br$γ$ 2.166 $μ$m emission lines and the $K_{\rm c}$ 2.218 $μ$m continuum. These images were collected with the Wide-field InfraRed Camera (WIRCam) on the 3.6m Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT); their unprecedented depth and wide field of view allow us to find extended nebular structures in H$_{2}$ emission in several PNe, some of these being the first detection. The nebular morphologies in H$_{2}$ emission are studied in analogy with the optical images, and indication on stellar wind interactions is discussed. In particular, the complete structure of the highly asymmetric halo in NGC6772 is witnessed in H$_{2}$, which strongly suggests interaction with the interstellar medium. Our sample confirms the general correlation between H$_{2}$ emission and the bipolarity of PNe. The knotty/filamentary fine structures of the H$_{2}$ gas are resolved in the inner regions of several ring-like PNe, also confirming the previous argument that H2 emission mostly comes from knots/clumps embedded within fully ionized material at the equatorial regions. Moreover, the deep H$_{2}$ image of the butterfly-shaped Sh1-89, after removal of field stars, clearly reveals a tilted ring structure at the waist. These high-quality CFHT images justify follow-up detailed morpho-kinematic studies that are desired to deduce the true physical structures of a few PNe in the sample.

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