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Gordon P. Garmire

Publications and source records attributed to Gordon P. Garmire.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Structure and Large-Scale Kinematics of Young Stellar Populations in the NGC 6357 and NGC 6334 Giant Molecular Cloud Complex

We map the three-dimensional structure and large-scale kinematics of the young stellar populations in the G352 giant molecular cloud (GMC) complex. In radio and infrared images, G352 appears as long filament extending ~$3^{\circ}$ (~150 pc) parallel to the Galactic midplane. It connects the NGC 6357 and NGC 6334 giant H II regions and the GM1-24 compact H II region. We identify 1727 stellar members of G352 via matching large catalogs of Chandra X-ray point sources and Spitzer mid-infrared excess sources to the Gaia DR3 astrometric catalog. Our catalog of 11,470 X-ray point sources ranks among the three largest contiguous X-ray survey datasets ever assembled for a massive star-forming complex. We revise the mean heliocentric distance of G352 to $1670\pm 80$ pc, with the median parallaxes of seven constituent groups exhibiting a trend toward increasing distance with decreasing Galactic longitude. We identify two foreground stellar groups superimposed on NGC 6357 that may belong to the Sag OB4 association. The three massive clusters in NGC 6357 exhibit peculiar velocities that trail Galactic circular motion by ${\sim}8$ km/s, while the stars associated with NGC 6334 are more consistent with a circular orbit. GM1-24 has a distinct proper motion and smaller parallax compared to NGC 6334. The steep pitch angle of the GMC filament into the sky appears inconsistent with a spiral arm. The various stellar groups are not gravitationally bound to each other, making G352 a proto-OB association.

astro-ph.GA

The Cluster Evolutionary Reference Ensemble at Low-$z$ (CEREAL) Sample of Galaxy Clusters I: X-ray Morphological Properties and Demographics

With rapid improvements in the assembly of large samples of galaxy clusters, we are approaching the ability to study clusters at $z\gtrsim2$. Evolutionary studies comparing these distant clusters to the clusters in our local universe depend heavily on the reliability of low-redshift cluster samples, most of which are subject to X-ray selection effects, biasing them to relaxed, cool core clusters. Here, we introduce the Cluster Evolutionary Reference Ensemble At Low-$z$ (CEREAL) sample, composed of Chandra X-ray observations of 169 galaxy clusters that have been selected from the Planck Sunyaev-Zel'dovich catalog. CEREAL has a simple and well-understood selection function, spans an order of magnitude in mass at $z\sim0.15$, and has uniform, high-resolution X-ray follow-up. We present the full sample and provide results based on X-ray surface brightness properties, finding significantly more non-cool core systems than in X-ray-selected samples. We use surface brightness concentration (c$_\mathrm{SB}$) as a proxy for cool core strength and centroid shift ($w$) to measure dynamical state. Over the full sample, we find a cool core (c$_\mathrm{SB} > 0.075$) fraction of $0.39_{-0.04}^{+0.04}$, a strong cool core (c$_\mathrm{SB} > 0.155$) fraction of $0.13_{-0.03}^{+0.03}$, and a dynamically relaxed ($w<0.01$) fraction of $0.42_{-0.04}^{+0.04}$. We find no mass dependence in the fraction of clusters that appear relaxed or have cool cores. We quantify the rarity of X-ray-bright central point sources (L$_\mathrm{nuc,~2-10~keV} > 10^{43}$ erg s$^{-1}$), finding them to be intrinsically rare ($0.7_{-0.5}^{+1.2}$\% of massive, low-z clusters) with a notable increase in occurrence rate at the centers of cool cores.

astro-ph.CO

X-ray Evolution of Young Stars: Early Dimming and Coronal Softening in Solar-Mass Stars with Implications for Planetary Atmospheres

X-ray and ultraviolet (XUV) emission from young stars plays a critical role in shaping the evolution of planetary atmospheres and the conditions for habitability. To assess the long-term impact of high-energy stellar radiation, it is essential to empirically trace how X-ray luminosities and spectral hardness evolve during the first ~<1 Gyr, when atmospheric loss and chemical processing are most active. This study extends the X-ray activity-mass-age analysis of <25 Myr stars by Getman et al. (2022) to ages up to 750 Myr, using Gaia-based cluster memberships, new Chandra observations of five rich open clusters (~45--100 Myr), and archival ROSAT and Chandra data for three older clusters (~220--750 Myr). We find a mass-dependent decay in X-ray luminosity: solar-mass stars undergo a far more rapid and sustained decline, accompanied by coronal softening and the disappearance of hot plasma by ~100 Myr, compared to their lower-mass siblings. These trends in solar-mass stars are likely linked to reduced magnetic dynamo efficiency and diminished ability to sustain large-scale, high-temperature coronal structures. The trends are significantly stronger than predicted by widely used XUV-rotation-age relations. The revised trends imply systematically lower rates of atmospheric mass loss and water photolysis, as well as altered ionization environments and chemical pathways relevant to the formation of prebiotic molecules, for planets in close orbits around solar analogs. These effects persist throughout at least the ~<750 Myr interval probed in this study.

astro-ph.SR

The Variable X-ray Emission of the Cataclysmic Variable V1460 Her with a Rapidly Rotating White Dwarf

Using a recent Chandra ACIS observation of the eclipsing cataclysmic variable (CV) V1460 Her (2MASS J16211735+4412541) with a fast-rotating ($P_{\rm spin} = 38.9$~s) white dwarf, we estimated a flux $F_{0.5-7 {\rm keV}}^{\rm abs} = (1.9\pm 0.5)\times 10^{-14}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$, a factor of $\sim7$ lower than found from previous Swift XRT observations $\approx8$ years ago, when the CV was quiescent. The drop in the flux suggests a corresponding drop in the accretion rate, and the resulting intrinsic luminosity $L_{0.5-7 {\rm keV}} \sim 1.6\times 10^{29}$ erg s$^{-1}$ places V1460 Her among the lowest-luminosity magnetic CVs known, in a state of very low accretion.

astro-ph.SR

The X-ray enhancements of radio-loud quasars at high redshift: New results at $z = 4\text{ -- }7$

Highly radio-loud quasars (HRLQs; $\log R>2.5$) at $z\gtrsim 4$ show apparent enhanced X-ray emission compared to matched HRLQs at lower redshifts, perhaps due to a redshift-dependent fractional contribution to the X-ray luminosity from inverse-Compton scattering of cosmic microwave background photons (IC/CMB). Using new {\it Chandra} observations and archival X-ray data, we investigate this phenomenon with an optically flux-limited sample of 41 HRLQs at $z = 4$--5.5 all with sensitive X-ray coverage, the largest sample utilized to date by a wide margin. X-ray enhancements are assessed using X-ray-to-optical flux ratios and spectral energy distributions. We confirm the presence of X-ray enhancements at a 4.9--5.3$σ$ significance level, finding that the median factor of enhancement is $\approx 1.8$ at our sample median redshift of $z\approx 4.4$. Under a fractional IC/CMB model, the expected enhancement at lower redshifts is modest; e.g., $\approx 4$% at $z\approx 1.5$. We also investigate a sample of seven radio-loud quasars (RLQs; $\log R>1$) at even higher redshifts of $z=5.6$--6.8, using new and archival X-ray data. These RLQs also show evidence for X-ray enhancements by a median factor of $\approx 2.7$ at a 3.7--4.9$σ$ significance level. The X-ray spectral and other properties of these $z=5.6$--6.8 RLQs, however, pose challenges for a straightforward fractional IC/CMB interpretation of their enhancements.

astro-ph.HE

The SPT-Chandra BCG Spectroscopic Survey I: Evolution of the Entropy Threshold for Cooling and Feedback in Galaxy Clusters Over the Last 10 Gyr

We present a multi-wavelength study of the brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) in a sample of the 95 most massive galaxy clusters selected from South Pole Telescope (SPT) Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) survey. Our sample spans a redshift range of 0.3 < z < 1.7, and is complete with optical spectroscopy from various ground-based observatories, as well as ground and space-based imaging from optical, X-ray and radio wavebands. At z~0, previous studies have shown a strong correlation between the presence of a low-entropy cool core and the presence of star-formation and a radio-loud AGN in the central BCG. We show for the first time that a central entropy threshold for star formation persists out to z~1. The central entropy (measured in this work at a radius of 10 kpc) below which clusters harbor star-forming BCGs is found to be as low as $K_\mathrm{10 ~ kpc} = 35 \pm 4$ keV cm$^2$ at z < 0.15 and as high as $K_\mathrm{10 ~ kpc} = 52 \pm 11$ keV cm$^2$ at z~1. We find only marginal (~1$σ$) evidence for evolution in this threshold. In contrast, we do not find a similar high-z analog for an entropy threshold for feedback, but instead measure a strong evolution in the fraction of radio-loud BCGs in high-entropy cores as a function of redshift. This could imply that the cooling-feedback loop was not as tight in the past, or that some other fuel source like mergers are fueling the radio sources more often with increasing redshift, making the radio luminosity an increasingly unreliable proxy for radio jet power. We also find that our SZ-based sample is missing a small (~4%) population of the most luminous radio sources ($νL_ν > 10^{42}$ erg/s), likely due to radio contamination suppressing the SZ signal with which these clusters are detected.

astro-ph.GA

A dragon out of breath? Monitoring high-velocity outflows from the high-mass gamma-ray binary LS 2883/PSR B1259-63 during the 2017--2021 binary cycle

Observations of the high-mass gamma-ray binary LS 2883/PSR B1259--63 with the Chandra X-ray Observatory during the 2011--2014 and 2014--2017 binary cycles have shown X-ray emitting clumps, presumably ejected from the binary during periastron passages. These clumps traveled at projected velocities of $\sim0.1 c$ and have shown evidence of being accelerated. The clumps also evolved in shape, size, and flux. We monitored this binary with Chandra during the 2017--2021 binary cycle to search for additional X-ray emitting ejections. While we find evidence of extended emission in two of the six observations, it is unlike the clumps observed in the previous three binary cycles. More specifically, the extended emission is not well localized and no bright clump is observed moving away from the binary. It is still unclear what caused the lack of X-ray emitting clump in this orbital cycle, but it may be due to changes in the decretion disk of the Be star.

astro-ph.HE

Magnetic Activity-Rotation-Age-Mass Relations in Late Pre-main Sequence Stars

We study the four-dimensional relationships between magnetic activity, rotation, mass and age for solar-type stars in the age range 5-25Myr. This is the late-pre-main sequence (l-PMS) evolutionary phase when rapid changes in star's interior may lead to the changes in magnetic dynamo mechanisms. We carefully derive rotational periods and spot sizes for 471 members of several l-PMS open clusters using photometric light curves from the Zwicky Transient Facility. Magnetic activity was measured in our previous Chandra-based study, and additional rotational data were obtained from other work. Several results emerge. Mass-dependent evolution of rotation through the l-PMS phase agrees with astrophysical models of stellar angular momentum changes, although the data point to a subpopulation of stars with slower initial rotations than commonly assumed. There is a hint of the onset of unsaturated tachoclinal dependency of X-ray activity on rotation, as reported by Argiroffi et al. (2016), but this result is not confidently confirmed. Both X-ray luminosity and star spot area decrease approximately as t^{-1} for solar mass stars suggesting that spot magnetic fields are roughly constant and l-PMS stars follow the universal solar-scaling law between the X-ray luminosity and surface magnetic flux. Assuming convective dynamos are dominant, theoretical magnetic fluxes fail to reveal the universal law for l-PMS stars that enter late Henyey tracks. Altogether we emerge with a few lines of evidence suggesting that the transition from the turbulent to solar-type dynamo occurs at the later stages of l-PMS evolution as stars approach the Zero-Age Main Sequence.

astro-ph.SR

Strong and Rapid X-ray Variability of the Super-Eddington Accreting Quasar SDSS J081456.10+532533.5

We report strong and rapid X-ray variability found from the super-Eddington accreting quasar SDSS J081456.10+532533.5 at $z=0.1197$. It has a black-hole mass of $2.7\times10^{7}{M_{\odot}}$ and a dimensionless accretion rate of $\approx4$ measured from reverberation-mapping observations. It showed weak X-ray emission in the 2021 February Chandra observation, with the 2 keV flux density being $9.6^{+11.6}_{-4.6}$ times lower compared to an archival Swift observation. The 2 keV flux density is also $11.7^{+9.6}_{-6.3}$ times weaker compared to the expectation from its optical/UV emission. In a follow-up XMM-Newton observation 32 days later, the 2 keV flux density increased by a factor of $5.3^{+6.4}_{-2.4}$, and the spectra are best described by a power law modified with partial-covering absorption; the absorption-corrected intrinsic continuum is at a nominal flux level. Nearly simultaneous optical spectra reveal no variability, and there is only mild long-term optical/infrared variability from archival data (with a maximum variability amplitude of $\approx50\%$). We interpret the X-ray variability with an obscuration scenario, where the intrinsic X-ray continuum does not vary but the absorber has variable column density and covering factor along the line of sight. The absorber is likely the small-scale clumpy accretion wind that has been proposed to be responsible for similar X-ray variability in other super-Eddington accreting quasars.

astro-ph.HE

First ejection from the PSR B1259-63/LS 2883 high mass gamma-ray binary detected during the 2021-2024 binary cycle

LS 2883/PSR B1259-63 is a high mass, eccentric gamma-ray binary that has previously been observed to eject X-ray emitting material. We report the results of recent Chandra observations near binary apastron in which a new X-ray emitting clump of matter was detected. The clump has a high projected velocity of $v_{\perp}\approx 0.07c$ and hard X-ray spectrum, which fits an absorbed power-law model with $Γ=1.1\pm0.3$. Although clumps with similar velocities and spectra were detected in some of the previous binary cycles, no resolved clumps were seen near apastron in the preceding cycle of 2017-2021.

astro-ph.HE

The Nature of Luminous Quasars with Very Large C IV Equivalent Widths

We report results for a complete sample of ten luminous radio-quiet quasars with large C IV equivalent widths (EW > 150 A). For 8/10 we performed Chandra snapshot observations. We find that, in addition to the enhanced C IV line EW, their He II and Mg II lines are enhanced, but the C III] line is not. Their X-ray emission is substantially stronger than expected from their ultraviolet luminosity. Additionally, these large C IV EW quasars show small C IV blueshifts and possibly low Eddington ratios, suggesting they are "extreme low Eigenvector 1 (EV1)" quasars. The mean excess He II EW is well-matched by Radiation Pressure Compression (RPC) photoionization models, with the harder aox ionizing spectrum. However, these results do not reproduce well the enhancement pattern of the C IV, Mg II, and C III] EWs, or the observed high C IV/Mg II ratio. RPC calculations indicate that the C IV/Mg II line ratio is an effective metallicity indicator, and models with sub-Solar metallicity gas and a hard ionizing continuum reproduce well the enhancement pattern of all four ultraviolet lines. We find that the C IV/Mg II line ratio in quasars is generally correlated with the excess X-ray emission. Extremely high EV1 quasars are characterized by high metallicity and suppressed X-ray emission. The underlying mechanism relating gas metallicity and X-ray emission is not clear, but may be related to radiation-pressure driven disk winds, which are enhanced at high metallicity, and consequent mass loading reducing coronal X-ray emission.

astro-ph.GA

Evolution of X-ray Activity in <25 Myr Old Pre-Main Sequence Stars

Measuring the evolution of X-ray emission from pre-main sequence (PMS) stars gives insight into two issues: the response of magnetic dynamo processes to changes in interior structure and the effects of high-energy radiation on protoplanetary disks and primordial planetary atmospheres. We present a sample of 6,003 stars with ages 7-25Myr in ten nearby open clusters from Chandra X-ray and Gaia-EDR3 surveys. Combined with previous results in large samples of younger (<5Myr) stars in MYStIX and SFiNCs star forming regions, mass-stratified activity-age relations are derived for early phases of stellar evolution. X-ray luminosity (Lx) is constant during the first few Myr, possibly due to the presence of extended X-ray coronas insensitive to temporal changes in stellar size. Lx then decays during the 7-25Myr period, more rapidly as stellar mass increases. This decay is interpreted as decreasing efficiency of the alpha^2 dynamo as radiative cores grow and a solar-type alpha-Omega dynamo emerges. For more massive 3.5-7Mo fully radiative stars, the X-ray emission plummets indicating lack of an effective magnetic dynamo. The findings provide improved measurements of high energy radiation effects on circumstellar material, first the protoplanetary disk and then the atmospheres of young planets. The observed X-ray luminosities can be so high that an inner Earth-mass rocky, unmagnetized planet around a solar-mass PMS star might lose its primary and secondary atmospheres within a few-several million years. PMS X-ray emission may thus have a significant impact on evolution of early planetary atmospheres and the conditions promoting the rise of habitability.

astro-ph.SR

X-ray Super-Flares From Pre-Main Sequence Stars: Flare Modeling

Getman et al. (2021) reports the discovery, energetics, frequencies, and effects on environs of $>1000$ X-ray super-flares with X-ray energies $E_X \sim 10^{34}-10^{38}$~erg from pre-main sequence (PMS) stars identified in the $Chandra$ MYStIX and SFiNCs surveys. Here we perform detailed plasma evolution modeling of $55$ bright MYStIX/SFiNCs super-flares from these events. They constitute a large sample of the most powerful stellar flares analyzed in a uniform fashion. They are compared with published X-ray super-flares from young stars in the Orion Nebula Cluster, older active stars, and the Sun. Several results emerge. First, the properties of PMS X-ray super-flares are independent of the presence or absence of protoplanetary disks inferred from infrared photometry, supporting the solar-type model of PMS flaring magnetic loops with both footpoints anchored in the stellar surface. Second, most PMS super-flares resemble solar long duration events (LDEs) that are associated with coronal mass ejections. Slow rise PMS super-flares are an interesting exception. Third, strong correlations of super-flare peak emission measure and plasma temperature with the stellar mass are similar to established correlations for the PMS X-ray emission composed of numerous smaller flares. Fourth, a new correlation of loop geometry is linked to stellar mass; more massive stars appear to have thicker flaring loops. Finally, the slope of a long-standing relationship between the X-ray luminosity and magnetic flux of various solar-stellar magnetic elements appears steeper in PMS super-flares than for solar events.

astro-ph.SR

X-ray properties of dust-obscured galaxies with broad optical/UV emission lines

Dust-obscured galaxies (DOGs) with extreme infrared luminosities may represent a key phase in the co-evolution of galaxies and supermassive black holes. We select 12 DOGs at $0.3\lesssim z\lesssim1.0$ with broad Mg II or H$β$ emission lines and investigate their X-ray properties utilizing snapshot observations ($\sim3~\mathrm{ks}$ per source) with Chandra. By assuming that the broad lines are broadened due to virial motions of broad-line regions, we find that our sources generally have high Eddington ratios ($λ_\mathrm{Edd}$). Our sources generally have moderate intrinsic X-ray luminosities ($L_\mathrm{X}\lesssim10^{45}~\mathrm{erg~s^{-1}}$), which are similar to those of other DOGs, but are more obscured. They also present moderate outflows and intense starbursts. Based on these findings, we conclude that high-$λ_\mathrm{Edd}$ DOGs are closer to the peaks of both host-galaxy and black-hole growth compared to other DOGs, and that AGN feedback has not swept away their reservoirs of gas. However, we cannot fully rule out the possibility that the broad lines are broadened by outflows, at least for some sources. We investigate the relations among $L_\mathrm{X}$, AGN rest-frame $6~\mathrm{μm}$ monochromatic luminosity, and AGN bolometric luminosity, and find the relations are consistent with the expected ones.

astro-ph.GA

IRAS 09002-4732: A Laboratory for the Formation of Rich Stellar Clusters

IRAS 09002-4732 is a poorly studied embedded cluster of stars in the Vela Molecular Ridge at a distance of 1.7kpc. Deep observations with the Chandra X-ray Observatory, combined with existing optical and infrared surveys, produce a catalog of 441 probable pre-main sequence members of the region. The stellar spatial distribution has two components: most stars reside in a rich, compact, elliptical cluster, but a minority reside within a molecular filament several parsecs long that straddles the cluster. The filament has active distributed star formation with dozens of unclustered protostars. The cluster pre-main sequence population is $\leq 0.8$ Myr old and deeply embedded; its most massive member is extremely young producing an ultracompact H II region. The cluster total population deduced from the X-ray luminosity function is surprisingly rich, twice that of the Orion Nebula Cluster. The cluster core is remarkably dense where strong N-body interactions should be occurring; its Initial Mass Function may be deficient in massive stars. We infer that IRAS 09002-4732 is a rare case where a rich cluster is forming today in a molecular filament, consistent with astrophysical models of cluster formation in clouds that involve the hierarchical formation and merging of groups in molecular filaments.

astro-ph.SR

The Massive Star-Forming Regions Omnibus X-Ray Catalog, Third Installment

We offer to the star formation community the third installment of the Massive Star-forming Regions (MSFRs) Omnibus X-ray Catalog (MOXC3), a compilation of X-ray point sources detected in 50 archival Chandra/ACIS observations of 14 Galactic MSFRs and surrounding fields. The MOXC3 MSFRs are NGC 2264, NGC 6193, RCW 108-IR, Aur OB1, DR15, NGC 6231, Berkeley 87, NGC 6357, AFGL 4029, h Per (NGC 869), NGC 281, Onsala 2S, G305, and RCW 49 (Wd 2); they have distances of 0.7 kpc to 4.2 kpc. Most exhibit clumped or clustered young stellar populations; several contain at least two distinct massive young stellar clusters. The total MOXC3 catalog includes 27,923 X-ray point sources. We take great care to identify even the faintest X-ray point sources across these fields. This allows us to remove this point source light, revealing diffuse X-ray structures that pervade and surround MSFRs, often generated by hot plasmas from massive star feedback. As we found in MOXC1 and MOXC2, diffuse X-ray emission is traceable in all MOXC3 MSFRs; here we perform spectral fitting to investigate the origins of selected diffuse regions. Once again, MOXC3 shows the value of high spatial resolution X-ray studies of MSFRs enabled by Chandra.

astro-ph.HE

Investigating the X-ray enhancements of highly radio-loud quasars at z > 4

We have investigated the jet-linked \mbox{X-ray} emission from highly radio-loud quasars (HRLQs; $\log R>2.5$) at high redshift. We studied the X-ray properties of 15 HRLQs at $z>4$, using new {\it Chandra} observations for six objects and archival {\it XMM-Newton} and {\it Swift} observations for the other nine. We focused on testing the apparent enhancement of jet-linked \mbox{X-ray} emission from HRLQs at $z>4$. Utilizing an enlarged (24 objects) optically flux-limited sample with complete X-ray coverage, we confirmed that HRLQs at $z>4$ have enhanced X-ray emission relative to that of HRLQs at $z\approx$ 1--2 with matched UV/optical and radio luminosity, at a \mbox{4.0--4.6}~$σ$ level; the X-ray enhancements are confirmed considering both two-point spectral indices and inspection of broad-band spectral energy distributions. The typical factor of enhancement is revised to $1.9^{+0.5}_{-0.4}$, which is smaller than but consistent with previous results. A fractional IC/CMB model can still explain our results at high redshift, which puts tighter constraints on the fraction of IC/CMB X-rays at lower redshifts, assuming the physical properties of quasar jets do not have a strong redshift dependence. A dominant IC/CMB model is inconsistent with our data.

astro-ph.HE

Intracluster Age Gradients In Numerous Young Stellar Clusters

The pace and pattern of star formation leading to rich young stellar clusters is quite uncertain. In this context, we analyze the spatial distribution of ages within 19 young (median t<3 Myr on the Siess et al. (2000) timescale), morphologically simple, isolated, and relatively rich stellar clusters. Our analysis is based on young stellar object samples from the MYStIX and SFiNCs surveys, and a new estimator of pre-main sequence (PMS) stellar ages, AgeJX, derived from X-ray and near-infrared photometric data. Median cluster ages are computed within four annular subregions of the clusters. We confirm and extend the earlier result of Getman et al. (2014): 80% percent of the clusters show age trends where stars in cluster cores are younger than in outer regions. Our cluster stacking analyses establish the existence of an age gradient to high statistical significance in several ways. Time scales vary with the choice of PMS evolutionary model; the inferred median age gradient across the studied clusters ranges from 0.75 Myr/pc to 1.5 Myr/pc. The empirical finding reported in the present study -- late or continuing formation of stars in the cores of star clusters with older stars dispersed in the outer regions -- has a strong foundation with other observational studies and with the astrophysical models like the global hierarchical collapse model of Vazquez-Semadeni et al. (2017).

astro-ph.GA