Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
M. Moscibrodzka, A. Janiuk, M. De Laurentis
Summary: By studying high resolution simulations, it is found that the coupling of electron and ions in magnetically arrested accretion flows significantly affects the linear and circular polarizations. In cases with high Faraday thickness, circular polarization is particularly sensitive to the dynamics of toroidal-radial magnetic fields.
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
(2021)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Richard Qiu, Angelo Ricarte, Ramesh Narayan, George N. Wong, Andrew Chael, Daniel Palumbo
Summary: Researchers have introduced a new library consisting of 535,194 model images of supermassive black holes and Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) targets Sgr A* and M87*. They used general relativistic radiative transfer calculations and general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics simulations to compute these images. They then trained a random forest machine learning model on various polarimetric observables to infer underlying black hole and accretion flow parameters.
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
J. Podgorny, L. Marra, F. Muleri, Rodriguez N. Cavero, A. Ratheesh, M. Dovciak, R. Mikusincova, M. Brigitte, J. F. Steiner, A. Veledina, S. Bianchi, H. Krawczynski, J. Svoboda, P. Kaaret, G. Matt, J. A. Garcia, P-O Petrucci, A. Lutovinov, A. Semena, A. Di Marco, M. Negro, M. C. Weisskopf, A. Ingram, J. Poutanen, B. Beheshtipour, S. Chun, K. Hu, T. Mizuno, Z. Sixuan, F. Tombesi, S. Zane, I Agudo, L. A. Antonelli, M. Bachetti, L. Baldini, W. H. Baumgartner, R. Bellazzini, S. D. Bongiorno, R. Bonino, A. Brez, N. Bucciantini, F. Capitanio, S. Castellano, E. Cavazzuti, C. Chen, S. Ciprini, E. Costa, A. De Rosa, E. Del Monte, L. Di Gesu, N. Di Lalla, I Donnarumma, V Doroshenko, S. R. Ehlert, T. Enoto, Y. Evangelista, S. Fabiani, R. Ferrazzoli, S. Gunji, K. Hayashida, J. Heyl, W. Iwakiri, S. G. Jorstad, V Karas, F. Kislat, T. Kitaguchi, J. J. Kolodziejczak, F. La Monaca, L. Latronico, I Liodakis, S. Maldera, A. Manfreda, F. Marin, A. Marinucci, A. P. Marscher, H. L. Marshall, F. Massaro, I Mitsuishi, C-Y Ng, S. L. O'Dell, N. Omodei, C. Oppedisano, A. Papitto, G. G. Pavlov, A. L. Peirson, M. Perri, M. Pesce-Rollins, M. Pilia, A. Possenti, S. Puccetti, B. D. Ramsey, J. Rankin, O. J. Roberts, R. W. Romani, C. Sgro, P. Slane, P. Soffitta, G. Spandre, D. A. Swartz, T. Tamagawa, F. Tavecchio, R. Taverna, Y. Tawara, A. F. Tennant, N. E. Thomas, A. Trois, S. S. Tsygankov, R. Turolla, J. Vink, K. Wu, F. Xie
Summary: We present an X-ray polarimetric observation of the high-mass X-ray binary LMC X-1 in the high/soft state. The measured polarization is below the detectable limit, and the spectral decomposition suggests a dominant thermal component and a Comptonized component. The low polarization does not provide strong constraints on black hole spin and accretion disc inclination.
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Onur Catmabacak, Robert Feldmann, Daniel Angles-Alcazar, Claude-Andre Faucher-Giguere, Philip F. Hopkins, Dusan Keres
Summary: The concurrent growth of supermassive black holes and their host galaxies is explored using cosmological zoom-in simulations. The results show that the growth of supermassive black holes at low redshift can be explained by a gravitational torque-driven accretion model. At high redshift, supermassive black holes are found to be undermassive but start to grow efficiently once their host galaxies reach a certain mass.
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
(2022)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Yihuan Di, Yuan Li, Feng Yuan, Fangzheng Shi, Mirielle Caradonna
Summary: We conducted high-resolution hydrodynamical simulations using MACER framework to investigate SMBH feeding and feedback in a massive compact galaxy. Compared to a reference galaxy, the compact galaxy shows a higher inflow rate, resulting in stronger SMBH feeding and feedback, and a larger inflow-outflow structure.
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
J. Vos, M. A. Moscibrodzka, M. Wielgus
Summary: This study investigates the flaring events observed in the Sagittarius A* supermassive black hole system and finds that they are attributed to the nonhomogeneous nature of the accretion flow. The research shows that the underlying magnetic field topology can be constrained by analyzing the polarimetric features of the emission.
ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS
(2022)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Stephanie Juneau, Andy D. Goulding, Julie Banfield, Stefano Bianchi, Pierre-Alain Duc, I-Ting Ho, Michael A. Dopita, Julia Scharwaechter, Franz E. Bauer, Brent Groves, David M. Alexander, Rebecca L. Davies, David Elbaz, Emily Freeland, Elise Hampton, Lisa J. Kewley, Robert Nikutta, Prajval Shastri, Xinwen Shu, Frederic P. A. Vogt, Tao Wang, O. Ivy Wong, Jong-Hak Woo
Summary: There is growing evidence of physical influence between supermassive black holes and their host galaxies. A case study of NGC 7582 found that galactic substructure plays a role in affecting the collimation of ionized outflows and contributing to the obscuration of the active galactic nucleus. Through 3D spectroscopy, the study revealed a kinematically distinct core and outflowing cones over kiloparsec scales, providing insights into the role of galaxy substructure in fueling, feedback, and obscuration of AGNs.
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Gaia Lops, David Izquierdo-Villalba, Monica Colpi, Silvia Bonoli, Alberto Sesana, Alberto Mangiagli
Summary: The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) aims to detect gravitational waves in the frequency range of 0.1 - 100 mHz, particularly those generated by binary black holes with masses of 10^4 - 10^7 solar masses. Through a simulated universe, it is found that the identification of hosts around LISA sources is challenging due to a large number of galaxies. However, if an X-ray counterpart is associated, a small number of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) can be observed. Additionally, future X-ray observatories can detect inspiralling binaries with masses less than or equal to 10^6 solar masses before the merger.
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Mengye Wang, Yiqiu Ma, Qingwen Wu
Summary: In this study, the effects of gas accretion on the mass distribution and migration of stellar-mass black holes and stars in the accretion disc of active galactic nuclei are simulated and explored. It is found that stellar-mass black holes can grow up to several tens solar mass and form heavier black hole binaries. This can help us understand the black-hole mass distribution observed by ground-based gravitational wave detectors such as LIGO/Virgo, ET, and Cosmic Explorer.
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Ignacio Martin-Navarro, Annalisa Pillepich, Dylan Nelson, Vicente Rodriguez-Gomez, Martina Donnari, Lars Hernquist, Volker Springel
Summary: An analysis of archival data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey reveals that star-forming satellite galaxies are more common along the minor axis of central galaxies due to black hole feedback. However, quenched satellite galaxies are less frequent along the minor axis of their central galaxies, which is caused by an anisotropic signal resulting from the ejective nature of black hole feedback in massive halos.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
M. Wielgus, M. Moscibrodzka, J. Vos, Z. Gelles, I Marti-Vidal, J. Farah, N. Marchili, C. Goddi, H. Messias
Summary: This study reports on the polarized light curves of the Galactic Center supermassive black hole Sagittarius A*, obtained through observations with ALMA. The observations reveal a hot spot embedded in a magnetic field rotating clockwise around the black hole's equator. The simple emission model used in the study captures the overall features of the polarized light curves remarkably well. The study also provides hints of the black hole's spin and estimates the projected on-sky axis of the hot spot's angular momentum.
ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS
(2022)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Linhao Ma, Philip F. Hopkins, Xiangcheng Ma, Daniel Angles-Alcazar, Claude-Andre Faucher-Giguere, Luke Zoltan Kelley
Summary: Supermassive black holes in the early universe may not efficiently sink in high-z galaxies, but solutions such as increasing the number of seeds or embedding seed BHs in dense structures can be considered.
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
(2021)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Imran Tariq Nasim, Cristobal Petrovich, Adam Nasim, Fani Dosopoulou, Fabio Antonini
Summary: This paper uses high-resolution N-body simulations to study the merger of two equal-mass galaxies hosting a central SMBH and the formation of SMBH binaries. The research findings suggest that binaries with high eccentricity quickly reverse their sense of rotation due to torque from the triaxial background mass distribution. This has significant implications for the detection of gravitational wave signals emitted by these systems.
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
(2021)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
M. Sobolenko, P. Berczik, R. Spurzem
Summary: The hierarchical merging scenario is one mechanism leading to the creation of supermassive black holes, with the ultraluminous infrared galaxy NGC 6240 being one of the strongest SMBHB candidates. Dynamical calculations in dense stellar environments show that initial physical conditions can strongly affect merging time estimations, but within certain parameters, no strong correlation is found between merging time and mass ratios. This research sets an upper limit of around 55 Myr for the merging time of central SMBHBs.
ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS
(2021)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Shihong Liao, Peter H. Johansson, Matias Mannerkoski, Dimitrios Irodotou, Francesco Paolo Rizzuto, Stuart McAlpine, Antti Rantala, Alexander Rawlings, Till Sawala
Summary: We propose a new model to study the accretion and feedback of SMBH binaries, which allows us to investigate the evolution of SMBH binaries in gas-rich galaxy mergers. Our model includes preferential mass accretion on to the secondary SMBH and can resolve SMBH binaries down to separations of tens of Schwarzschild radii. We perform simulations of gas-rich disc galaxy mergers with different types of AGN feedback and find that the feedback implementation plays a critical role in the merger time-scales and the resulting stellar profiles.
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Roberto Galvan-Madrid, Qizhou Zhang, Andres Izquierdo, Charles J. Law, Thomas Peters, Eric Keto, Hauyu Baobab Liu, Paul T. P. Ho, Adam Ginsburg, Carlos Carrasco-Gonzalez
Summary: We conducted observations and radiative-transfer modeling to study the ionized accretion flow around a compact star cluster in formation. The modeling suggests the presence of an ionized Keplerian disk with or without radial motions, or an external Ulrich envelope. The fitting results give a range of total stellar masses and ionized-gas masses, indicating that the gas is marginally unbound. Our analysis also reveals the presence of a few massive stars accompanied by a population of lower-mass stars within the cluster, with a very high cluster density comparable to the Galactic center.
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
C. Bertemes, D. Wylezalek, M. Alban, M. Aravena, W. M. Baker, S. Cazzoli, C. Cicone, S. Martin, A. Schimek, J. Wagg, W. Wang
Summary: This study presents the first public data release of the MASCOT survey, which focuses on galaxies below the star-forming main sequence. The results show an empirical relation between gas-phase metallicity gradients and global molecular gas depletion times. The study investigates potential drivers of this relation and finds a strong connection to centralized outflow strength and suppressed star formation in the outskirts of AGN-like galaxies. Overall, the observed relation is suggested to be the result of metal redistribution via weak feedback and a connection to in situ star formation.
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
E. Bellocchi, J. Martin-Pintado, F. Rico-Villas, S. Martin, I. Jimenez-Sierra
Summary: ALMA imaging was used to observe HCN and HC3N in the nucleus of NGC 4945, tracing the protostellar phase in super star clusters. Out of the identified SSCs, eight were found to be in the proto-SSC phase, showing vibrational HCN and HC3N emission. The ages of the proto-SSCs were estimated to be 5-9.7 x10(4) years, with the more evolved ones close to reaching the zero-age main sequence.
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
K. -y. Huang, S. Viti, J. Holdship, J. G. Mangum, S. Martin, N. Harada, S. Muller, K. Sakamoto, K. Tanaka, Y. Yoshimura, R. Herrero-Illana, D. S. Meier, E. Behrens, P. P. van der Werf, C. Henkel, S. Garcia-Burillo, V. M. Rivilla, K. L. Emig, L. Colzi, P. K. Humire, R. Aladro, M. Bouvier
Summary: The study of NGC 253 shows that the different densities and temperatures of SiO and HNCO molecules can reveal the gas properties and indicate the need for shock processes. Chemical modeling confirms the roles of fast and slow shocks in the production of SiO and HNCO. Higher spatial resolution observations are needed to quantitatively differentiate between possible shock scenarios.
ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Junhao Liu, Qizhou Zhang, Patrick M. Koch, Hauyu Baobab Liu, Zhi-Yun Li, Shanghuo Li, Josep Miquel Girart, Huei-Ru Vivien Chen, Tao-Chung Ching, Paul T. P. Ho, Shih-Ping Lai, Keping Qiu, Ramprasad Rao, Ya-wen Tang
Summary: In this study, we use ALMA observations to analyze the relative orientations between magnetic fields, column density gradients, local gravity, and velocity gradients in NGC 6334. Our results show that the alignment between the magnetic field and column density changes with the density of the region, indicating the influence of star formation activities. Additionally, we find that the magnetic field plays a significant role in the star formation process at small scales as well.
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Seiji Kameno, Satoko Sawada-Satoh, C. M. Violette Impellizzeri, Kotaro Kohno, Sergio Martin, Daniel Espada, Naomasa Nakai, Hajime Sugai, Yuichi Terashima, Minju M. Lee, Nozomu Kawakatu
Summary: The radio galaxy NGC 1052 shows absorption features of sulfur-bearing molecules towards the radio continuum emission from the core and jets. By measuring the equivalent widths of SO absorption features at different transitions, temperatures of 344 +/- 43 K and 26 +/- 4 K were determined in submillimeter and millimeter wavelengths, respectively. The high temperature in the molecular torus and the presence of sulfur-bearing molecules indicate a warm environment and suggest the evaporation of icy dust through a jet-torus interaction.
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Junhao Liu, Qizhou Zhang, Hauyu Baobab Liu, Keping Qiu, Shanghuo Li, Zhi-Yun Li, Paul T. P. Ho, Josep Miquel Girart, Tao-Chung Ching, Huei-Ru Vivien Chen, Shih-Ping Lai, Ramprasad Rao, Ya-wen Tang
Summary: We used molecular line data from different telescopes to study the velocity statistics in the massive star formation region NGC 6334 at various scales. The nonthermal motions revealed by the velocity dispersion function (VDF) remained supersonic across different scales. The nonthermal motions revealed by different instruments did not follow the same continuous power law, indicating the influence of massive star formation activities. The scaling relation of velocity fields in NGC 6334 deviated from a continuous and universal turbulence cascade due to the presence of massive star formation.
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Wen-Ping Lo, Keiichi Asada, Satoki Matsushita, Hung-Yi Pu, Masanori Nakamura, Geoffrey C. Bower, Jongho Park, Makoto Inoue
Summary: We utilize millimeter and submillimeter continuum observations to explore the accretion flow of potential low-luminosity active galactic nuclei (LLAGNs). By observing 36 sources with large black hole shadows at 230 and 345 GHz, we successfully detect 17 and 8 sources respectively. These findings serve as pathfinders for future high-angular resolution observations and reveal significant excess in certain sources at millimeter/submillimeter wavelengths.
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Yi Yang, Hauyu Baobab Liu, Takayuki Muto, Jun Hashimoto, Ruobing Dong, Kazuhiro Kanagawa, Munetake Momose, Eiji Akiyama, Yasuhiro Hasegawa, Takashi Tsukagoshi, Mihoko Konishi, Motohide Tamura
Summary: Researching the crescent-like asymmetric dust structures in protoplanetary disks can help us understand the planet formation process.
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
S. Zeng, V. M. Rivilla, I Jimenez-Serra, L. Colzi, J. Martin-Pintado, B. Tercero, P. de Vicente, S. Martin, M. A. Requena-Torres
Summary: Interstellar amides, including acetamide and trans-N-methylformamide, have been detected in a quiescent Galactic centre molecular cloud, suggesting that amides related chemistry is triggered in early evolutionary stages of molecular clouds. The constant abundance ratios of amides observed independently of the evolutionary stages indicate that they remain unaffected by the warm-up phase during the star formation process. The detection of amides together with other precursors can help constrain the amide chemistry in the interstellar medium.
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Siddhant Solanki, Sean M. Ressler, Lena Murchikova, James M. Stone, Mark R. Morris
Summary: In this study, we combine stellar winds and a circumnuclear disk with the gravitational potential of the nuclear star cluster and Sagittarius A* to simulate the hydrodynamics of the inner few parsecs of the Milky Way's Galactic center. We observe interactions between the stellar winds and the inner edge of the circumnuclear disk, leading to the growth of instabilities, accretion of cool gas, and the formation of a small accretion disk. The formation of this inner disk is consistent with observations.
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Grant C. Weldon, Tuan Do, Gunther Witzel, Andrea M. Ghez, Abhimat K. Gautam, Eric E. Becklin, Mark R. Morris, Gregory D. Martinez, Shoko Sakai, Jessica R. Lu, Keith Matthews, Matthew W. Hosek Jr, Zoe Haggard
Summary: This study investigates the unusual activity of the variable electromagnetic source associated with the Galactic center supermassive black hole, known as Sgr A*. By reanalyzing observational data from 2005 to 2022, it is found that Sgr A* experienced a significant increase in luminosity in 2019 and displayed higher variance compared to previous time periods. The activity in 2019 is believed to be caused by a temporary increase in accretion onto Sgr A*, possibly resulting from delayed accretion of tidally stripped gas from the object G2 in 2014. Furthermore, the study reveals that Sgr A* shows flux variations over a factor of 500, indicating the absence of a quiescent state in the near-infrared.
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Maya A. Petkova, J. M. Diederik Kruijssen, Jonathan D. Henshaw, Steven N. Longmore, Simon C. O. Glover, Mattia C. Sormani, Lucia Armillotta, Ashley T. Barnes, Ralf S. Klessen, Francisco Nogueras-Lara, Robin G. Tress, Jairo Armijos-Abendano, Laura Colzi, Christoph Federrath, Pablo Garcia, Adam Ginsburg, Christian Henkel, Sergio Martin, Denise Riquelme, Victor M. Rivilla
Summary: In this study, the authors investigated the influence of the Galactic gravitational potential on the turbulence in the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) clouds of our Galaxy. They found that the Galactic shear, in combination with the cloud's gravitational collapse, significantly affects the kinematic properties and turbulence of the CMZ clouds, leading to a suppression in the star formation rate (SFR).
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Ming-Tang Chen, Keiichi Asada, Satoki Matsushita, Philippe Raffin, Makoto Inoue, Paul T. P. Ho, Chih-Chiang Han, Derek Kubo, Timothy Norton, Nimesh A. Patel, George Nystrom, Chih-Wei L. Huang, Pierre Martin-Cocher, Jun Yi Koay, Cristina Romero-Canizales, Ching-Tang Liu, Teddy Huang, Kuan-Yu Liu, Tashun Wei, Shu-Hao Chang, Ryan Chilson, Peter Oshiro, Homin Jiang, Chao-Te Li, Geoffrey Bower, Paul Shaw, Hiroaki Nishioka, Patrick M. Koch, Chung-Cheng Chen, Ranjani Srinivasan, Ramprasad Rao, William Snow, Hao Jinchi, Kuo-Chang Han, Song-Chu Chang, Li-Ming Lu, Hideo Ogawa, Kimihiro Kimura, Yutaka Hasegawa, Hung-Yi Pu, Shoko Koyama, Masanori Nakamura, Daniel Bintley, Craig Walther, Per Friberg, Jessica Dempsey, T. K. Sriharan, Sivasankaran Srikanth, Sheperd S. Doeleman, Roger Brissenden, Juan-Carlos Algaba Marcos, Britt Jeter, Cheng-Yu Kuo, Jongho Park
Summary: This paper provides a comprehensive review of the Greenland Telescope system, summarizes the observation activities and lessons learned from operations in the Arctic regions since 2018, and presents the future prospects of the telescope.
PUBLICATIONS OF THE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF THE PACIFIC
(2023)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Zhuo Chen, Tuan Do, Andrea M. Ghez, Matthew W. Hosek, Anja Feldmeier-Krause, Devin S. Chu, Rory O. Bentley, Jessica R. Lu, Mark R. Morris
Summary: We present the first study on the star formation history of the Milky Way's nuclear star cluster (NSC), incorporating observational constraints from a large sample of stellar metallicity measurements. The inclusion of metallicity measurements improves the overall fit quality and suggests a two-component model for the NSC. The dominant component is metal-rich and younger than previously thought, challenging coevolutionary models. The minor population component has low metallicity and an uncertain age. The study also provides predictions for the NSC stellar remnant population, including neutron stars and stellar-mass black holes.
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
(2023)