arXiv subjects

Michael I. Andersen

Publications and source records attributed to Michael I. Andersen.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Shape and spin state model of contact binary (388188) 2006 DP14 using combined radar and optical observations

Contact binaries are found throughout the solar system. The recent discovery of Selam, the satellite of MBA (152830) Dinkinesh, by the NASA LUCY mission has made it clear that the term `contact binary' covers a variety of different types of bi-modal mass distributions and formation mechanisms. Only by modelling more contact binaries can this population be properly understood. We determined a spin state and shape model for the Apollo group contact binary asteroid (388188) 2006 DP14 using ground-based optical and radar observations collected between 2014 and 2023. Radar delay-Doppler images and continuous wave spectra were collected over two days in February 2014, while 16 lightcurves in the Cousins R and SDSS-r filters were collected in 2014, 2022 and 2023. We modelled the spin state using convex inversion before using the SHAPE modelling software to include the radar observations in modelling concavities and the distinctive neck structure connecting the two lobes. We find a spin state with a period of $(5.7860\pm0.0001)$ hours and pole solution of $λ= (180\pm121)^\circ$ and $β= (-80\pm7)^\circ$ with morphology indicating a 520 m long bi-lobed shape. The model's asymmetrical bi-modal mass distribution resembles other small NEA contact binaries such as (85990) 1999 JV6 or (8567) 1996 HW1, which also feature a smaller `head' attached to a larger `body'. The final model features a crater on the larger lobe, similar to several other modelled contact binaries. The model's resolution is 25 m, comparable to that of the radar images used.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2022

An Isolated Stellar-Mass Black Hole Detected Through Astrometric Microlensing

We report the first unambiguous detection and mass measurement of an isolated stellar-mass black hole (BH). We used the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) to carry out precise astrometry of the source star of the long-duration (t_E~270 days), high-magnification microlensing event MOA-2011-BLG-191/OGLE-2011-BLG-0462 (hereafter designated as MOA-11-191/OGLE-11-462), in the direction of the Galactic bulge. HST imaging, conducted at eight epochs over an interval of six years, reveals a clear relativistic astrometric deflection of the background star's apparent position. Ground-based photometry of MOA-11-191/OGLE-11-462 shows a parallactic signature of the effect of the Earth's motion on the microlensing light curve. Combining the HST astrometry with the ground-based light curve and the derived parallax, we obtain a lens mass of 7.1 +/- 1.3 Msun and a distance of 1.58 +/- 0.18 kpc. We show that the lens emits no detectable light, which, along with having a mass higher than is possible for a white dwarf or neutron star, confirms its BH nature. Our analysis also provides an absolute proper motion for the BH. The proper motion is offset from the mean motion of Galactic-disk stars at similar distances by an amount corresponding to a transverse space velocity of ~45 km/s, suggesting that the BH received a 'natal kick' from its supernova explosion. Previous mass determinations for stellar-mass BHs have come from radial-velocity measurements of Galactic X-ray binaries, and from gravitational radiation emitted by merging BHs in binary systems in external galaxies. Our mass measurement is the first for an isolated stellar-mass BH using any technique.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2021

A more probable explanation for a continuum flash in the direction of a redshift $\approx$ 11 galaxy

Recent work reported the discovery of a gamma-ray burst (GRB) associated with the galaxy GN-z11 at $z\sim 11$. The extreme improbability of the transient source being a GRB in the very early Universe requires robust elimination of all plausible alternative hypotheses. We identify numerous examples of similar transient signals in separate archival MOSFIRE observations and argue that Solar system objects -- natural or artificial -- are a far more probable explanation for these phenomena. An appendix has been added in response to additional points raised in Jiang et al. (2021), which do not change the conclusion.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2013

Bayesian photon counting with electron-multiplying charge coupled devices (EMCCDs)

The EMCCD is a CCD type that delivers fast readout and negligible detector noise, making it an ideal detector for high frame rate applications. Because of the very low detector noise, this detector can potentially count single photons. Considering that an EMCCD has a limited dynamical range and negligible detector noise, one would typically apply an EMCCD in such a way that multiple images of the same object are available, for instance, in so called lucky imaging. The problem of counting photons can then conveniently be viewed as statistical inference of flux or photon rates, based on a stack of images. A simple probabilistic model for the output of an EMCCD is developed. Based on this model and the prior knowledge that photons are Poisson distributed, we derive two methods for estimating the most probable flux per pixel, one based on thresholding, and another based on full Bayesian inference. We find that it is indeed possible to derive such expressions, and tests of these methods show that estimating fluxes with only shot noise is possible, up to fluxes of about one photon per pixel per readout.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2012

High Frame-rate Imaging Based Photometry, Photometric Reduction of Data from Electron-multiplying Charge Coupled Devices (EMCCDs)

The EMCCD is a type of CCD that delivers fast readout times and negligible readout noise, making it an ideal detector for high frame rate applications which improve resolution, like lucky imaging or shift-and-add. This improvement in resolution can potentially improve the photometry of faint stars in extremely crowded fields significantly by alleviating crowding. Alleviating crowding is a prerequisite for observing gravitational microlensing in main sequence stars towards the galactic bulge. However, the photometric stability of this device has not been assessed. The EMCCD has sources of noise not found in conventional CCDs, and new methods for handling these must be developed. We aim to investigate how the normal photometric reduction steps from conventional CCDs should be adjusted to be applicable to EMCCD data. One complication is that a bias frame cannot be obtained conventionally, as the output from an EMCCD is not normally distributed. Also, the readout process generates spurious charges in any CCD, but in EMCCD data, these charges are visible as opposed to the conventional CCD. Furthermore we aim to eliminate the photon waste associated with lucky imaging by combining this method with shift-and-add. A simple probabilistic model for the dark output of an EMCCD is developed. Fitting this model with the expectation-maximization algorithm allows us to estimate the bias, readout noise, amplification, and spurious charge rate per pixel and thus correct for these phenomena. To investigate the stability of the photometry, corrected frames of a crowded field are reduced with a PSF fitting photometry package, where a lucky image is used as a reference. We find that it is possible to develop an algorithm that elegantly reduces EMCCD data and produces stable photometry at the 1% level in an extremely crowded field.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2010

OCTOCAM: A fast multichannel imager and spectrograph for the 10.4m GTC

OCTOCAM is a multi-channel imager and spectrograph that has been proposed for the 10.4m GTC telescope. It will use dichroics to split the incoming light to produce simultaneous observations in 8 different bands, ranging from the ultraviolet to the near-infrared. The imaging mode will have a field of view of 2' x 2' in u, g, r, i, z, J, H and Ks bands, whereas the long-slit spectroscopic mode will cover the complete range from 4,000 to 23,000 Å with a resolution of 700 - 1,700 (depending on the arm and slit width). An additional mode, using an image slicer, will deliver a spectral resolution of over 3,000. As a further feature, it will use state of the art detectors to reach high readout speeds of the order of tens of milliseconds. In this way, OCTOCAM will be occupying a region of the time resolution - spectral resolution - spectral coverage diagram that is not covered by a single instrument in any other observatory, with an exceptional sensitivity.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2003

A very energetic supernova associated with the gamma-ray burst of 29 March 2003

Over the past five years evidence has mounted that long-duration (> 2 s) gamma-ray bursts (GRBs)--the most brilliant of all astronomical explosions--signal the collapse of massive stars in our Universe. This evidence was originally based on the probable association of one unusual GRB with a supernova, but now includes the association of GRBs with regions of massive star formation in distant galaxies, the appearance of supernova-like 'bumps' in the optical afterglow light curves of several bursts and lines of freshly synthesized elements in the spectra of a few X-ray afterglows. These observations support, but do not yet conclusively demonstrate, the idea that long-duration GRBs are associated with the deaths of massive stars, presumably arising from core collapse. Here we report evidence that a very energetic supernova (a hypernova) was temporally and spatially coincident with a GRB at redshift z = 0.1685. The timing of the supernova indicates that it exploded within a few days of the GRB, strongly suggesting that core-collapse events can give rise to GRBs, thereby favouring the 'collapsar' model.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2002

The time delay of the quadruple quasar RX J0911.4+0551

We present optical lightcurves of the gravitationally lensed components A (=A1+A2+A3) and B of the quadruple quasar RX J0911.4+0551 (z = 2.80). The observations were primarily obtained at the Nordic Optical Telescope between 1997 March and 2001 April and consist of 74 I-band data points for each component. The data allow the measurement of a time delay of 146 +- 8 days (2 sigma) between A and B, with B as the leading component. This value is significantly shorter than that predicted from simple models and indicates a very large external shear. Mass models including the main lens galaxy and the surrounding massive cluster of galaxies at z = 0.77, responsible for the external shear, yield H_0 = 71 +- 4 (random, 2 sigma) +- 8 (systematic) km/s/Mpc. The systematic model uncertainty is governed by the surface-mass density (convergence) at the location of the multiple images.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2002

The afterglow and complex environment of the optically dim burst GRB 980613

We report the identification of the optical afterglow of GRB 980613 in R- and I-band images obtained between 16 and 48 hours after the gamma-ray burst. Early near-infrared (NIR) H and K' observations are also reported. The afterglow was optically faint (R ~ 23) at discovery but did not exhibit an unusually rapid decay (power-law decay slope alpha < 1.8 at 2 sigma). The optical/NIR spectral index (beta_RH < 1.1) was consistent with the optical-to-X-ray spectral index (beta_RX ~ 0.6), indicating a maximal reddening of the afterglow of ~0.45 mag in R. Hence the dimness of the optical afterglow was mainly due to the fairly flat spectral shape rather than internal reddening in the host galaxy. We also present late-time HST/STIS images of the field in which GRB 980613 occurred, obtained 799 days after the burst. These images show that GRB 980613 was located close to a very compact, blue V = 26.1 object inside a complex region consisting of star-forming knots and/or interacting galaxy fragments. Therefore, GRB 980613 constitutes a strong case for the association of cosmological gamma-ray bursts with star-forming regions.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2001

Optical observations of the dark Gamma-Ray Burst GRB 000210

We report on optical observations on GRB 000210 obtained with the 2.56-m Nordic Optical Telescope and the 1.54-m Danish Telescope starting 12.4 hours after the gamma-ray event. The content of the X-ray error box determined by the Chandra satellite is discussed.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1998

Stromgren Photometry of Globular Clusters: The Distance and Age of M13, Evidence For Two Populations of Horizontal-Branch Stars

We present deep CCD photometry of the globular cluster M13 (NGC 6205) in the Stromgren uvby-Beta system, and determine a foreground reddening of E(b-y)= 0.015mag. From a fit to the main-sequence of metal-poor subdwarfs with Hipparcos parallaxes, we derive (m-M)_0=14.38 +- 0.10 which implies an age near 12 Gyr assuming [Fe/H]=-1.61 and [Alpha/Fe]=0.3. The distance independent ((b-y)_0, c_0) diagram indicates that M13 and metal-poor field subdwarfs of similar metallicity must be coeval to within +-1 Gyr. In addition, we find that, at any given (b-y)_0 color, there is a large spread in the c_0 index for M13 red-giant branch (RGB) stars. We suspect that this scatter, which extends at least as faint as the base of the RGB, is most likely due to star-to-star variations in the atmospheric abundances of the CNO elements. We also note the existence of what appears to be two separate stellar populations on the HB of M13. Among other possibilities, it could arise as the result of differences in the extent to which deep mixing occurs in the precursor red giants.

astro-ph↗