arXiv subjects

Xabier Pérez-Couto

Publications and source records attributed to Xabier Pérez-Couto.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

A homogeneous three-dimensional view of Molecular Cloud kinematics out to 2.5 kpc. Using Young Stellar Objects and Open Clusters as complementary tracers

Understanding the large-scale dynamics of molecular clouds (MCs) is crucial for constraining the processes that govern star formation and the structure and evolution of the Galaxy. While gas tracers have traditionally been used to map MC kinematics, stellar tracers such as young stellar objects (YSOs) and open clusters (OCs) provide a complementary approach that enables direct comparisons between the stellar and gaseous components. We aim to validate OCs as complementary tracers by testing whether they retain the same bulk kinematic imprint as YSOs, and to reconstruct the three-dimensional (3D) motions of the main MC complexes within 2.5 kpc of the Sun using YSOs and young OCs as tracers. Using Gaia DR3 astrometry together with complementary spectroscopic surveys for radial velocities, we compiled a unified sample of 24,732 stellar tracers. We applied robust clustering in proper motion space to identify co-moving YSOs and derived cloud-averaged motions via Monte Carlo sampling. These were compared with the kinematics of OCs younger than 30 Myr. Finally, we performed orbital integrations in a realistic Galactic potential to trace the past evolution of the clouds and quantify their expansion and rotation. We derive homogeneous 3D kinematics for 15 MC complexes within 2.5 kpc. YSOs and OCs exhibit strongly consistent kinematics, with a median spatial velocity offset of $\simeq 2$ km s$^{-1}$, confirming that both populations trace the bulk motion of their parent clouds. The resulting cloud kinematics show a median peculiar velocity of $\simeq 8.7$ km s$^{-1}$ with respect to Galactic rotation. We trace back the Solar System's voyage through the Orion cloud and the common origin of Lupus, Ophiuchus, and Corona Australis in Sco-Cen. Internally, we detect significant expansion in Orion and Ophiuchus ($5σ$) and coherent rotation in at least seven complexes.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

Finding White Dwarfs' Hidden Companions using an Unsupervised Machine Learning Technique

White dwarfs (WD) with main-sequence (MS) companions are crucial probes of stellar evolution. However, due to the significant difference in their luminosities, the WD is often outshined by the MS star. The aim of this work is to find hidden companions in Gaia's sample of WD candidates. Our methodology involves applying an unsupervised machine learning algorithm for dimensionality reduction and clustering, known as Self-Organizing Map (SOM), to Gaia BP/RP (XP) spectra. This strategy allows us to naturally separate WDMS binaries from single WDs from the detection of subtle red flux excesses in the XP spectra that are indicative of low-mass MS companions. We validate our approach using confirmed WDMS binaries from the SDSS and LAMOST surveys, achieving a precision of $\sim 90\%$. We demonstrated that the luminosity of the faint companions in the missed systems is $\sim 50$ times lower than that of their WD primaries. Applying our SOM to 90,667 sources, we identify 993 WDMS candidates, 506 of which have not been previously reported in the literature. If confirmed, our sample will increase the known WDMS binaries by $20\%$. Additionally, we use the Virtual Observatory Spectral Energy Distribution Analyzer (VOSA) tool to refine and parameterize a ``golden sample'' of 136 WDMS binaries through multi-wavelength photometry and a two-body Spectral Energy Distribution fitting. These high-confidence WDMS binaries are composed by low-mass WDs ($\sim 0.42 M_{\odot}$), with cool MS companions ($\sim 2800$ K). Finally, 13 systems exhibit periodic variability consistent with eclipsing binaries, making them prime targets for further follow-up observations.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2024

Identifying new high-confidence polluted white dwarf candidates using Gaia XP spectra and Self-Organizing Maps

The identification of new white dwarfs (WDs) polluted with heavy elements is important since they provide a valuable tool for inferring chemical properties of putative planetary systems accreting material on their surfaces. The Gaia space mission has provided us with an unprecedented amount of astrometric, photometric, and low resolution (XP) spectroscopic data for millions of newly discovered stellar sources, among them thousands of WDs. In order to find WDs among this data and to identify which ones have metals in their atmospheres, we propose a methodology based on an unsupervised artificial intelligence technique called Self-Organizing Maps (SOM). In our approach a nonlinear high-dimensional dataset is projected on a 2D grid map where similar elements fall into the same neuron. By applying this method, we obtained a clean sample of 66,337 WDs. We performed an automatic spectral classification analysis to them, obtaining 143 bona fide polluted WD candidates not previously classified in the literature. The majority of them are cool WDs and we identify in their XP spectra several metallic lines such as Ca, Mg, Na, Li, and K. The fact that we obtain similar precision metrics than those achieved with recent supervised techniques highlights the power of our unsupervised approach to mine the Gaia archives for hidden treasures to follow-up spectroscopically with higher resolution.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2023

On the Posch ratio for irradiance in coastal waters and the high seas

The horizontal irradiance at the sea surface is an informative light pollution indicator to study Artificial Light at Night (ALAN) effects on marine biodiversity (e.g.: zooplankton diel vertical migration). The Posch ratio (PR) for the horizontal irradiance (that is, the ratio of the horizontal irradiance to the zenith radiance) is a useful tool for estimating the irradiance from easily available measurements of the zenith night sky brightness. The PR definition has already been generalized for any pair of linear radiance indicators in any pair of arbitrarily chosen photometric bands, and can also be applied to estimate e.g. the average sky radiance or the radiance at some elevation above the horizon as a function of the radiance in any other direction of the sky. The PR for a single light source depends on the distance from the source, its angular and spectral emission pattern, and the state of the atmosphere. The PR for any set of sources is a linear combination of the individual PRs that each one would produce separately, with weights that can be easily derived from the relative contribution of each source to the zenith radiance. Whereas in populated lands the ALAN PR varies relatively fast from one location to another, due to the particular spatial distribution of lights, in coastal waters and the high seas the light pollution PR is a smooth function of the distance to the shoreline, due to the progressive lack of neighboring sources and the absence of obstacles. In this work we present the fundamental equations of the model and an example of application for the waters surrounding the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa and the West Mediterranean islands.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2023

An algorithm to calculate the relative orbit, ephemeris, and individual masses of unresolved astrometric binaries. Example of application on the newest Gaia DR3 binaries: the ESMORGA catalog

The recent Gaia Data Release 3 has unveiled a catalog of over eight hundred thousand binary systems, providing orbital solutions for half of them. Since most of them are unresolved astrometric binaries, several astrophysical parameters that can be only derived from their relative orbits together with spectroscopic data, such as the individual stellar masses, remain unknown. Indeed, only the mass of the primary, $\texttt{m1}$, and a wide interval, $\texttt{[m2_lower, m2_upper]}$, for the secondary companion of main-sequence astrometric binaries have been derived to date (Gaia Collaboration et al., 2023). In order to obtain the correct values for each component, we propose an analytic algorithm to estimate the two most probable relative orbits and magnitude differences of a certain main-sequence or subgiant astrometric binary using all available Gaia data. Subsequently, both possible solutions are constrained to the one that is consistent with $\texttt{m1, m2_lower}$ and $\texttt{m2_upper}$. Moreover, we deduce not only the correct values of the individual masses for each binary but also the size of the telescope necessary to resolve their components. The workflow of our algorithm as well as the ESMORGA (Ephemeris, Stellar Masses, and relative ORbits from GAia) catalog with more than one hundred thousand individual masses, spectral types, and effective temperatures derivated from its application are also presented.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2022

Estimating linear radiance indicators from the zenith night sky brightness: on the Posch ratio for natural and light polluted skies

Estimating the horizontal irradiance from measurements of the zenith night sky radiance is a useful operation for basic and applied studies in observatory site assessment, atmospheric optics and environmental sciences. The ratio between these two quantities, also known as Posch ratio, has been previously studied for some canonical cases and reported for a few observational sites. In this work we (a) generalize the Posch ratio concept, extending it to any pair of radiance-related linear indicators, (b) describe its main algebraic properties, and (c) provide analytical expressions and numerical evaluations for its three basic nighttime components (moonlight, starlight and other astrophysical light sources, and artificial light). We show that the horizontal irradiance (or any other linear radiance indicator) is generally correlated with the zenith radiance, enabling its estimation from zenith measurements if some a priori information on the atmospheric state is available.

astro-ph.IM↗