Construction of a Second-order Six-dimensional Hamiltonian-conserving Scheme

Research has analytically shown that the energy-conserving implicit nonsymplectic scheme of Bacchini, Ripperda, Chen, and Sironi provides a first-order accuracy to numerical solutions of a six-dimensional conservative Hamiltonian system. Because of this, a new second-order energy-conserving implicit scheme is proposed. Numerical simulations of a galactic model hosting a BL Lacertae object and magnetized rotating black hole background support these analytical results. The new method with appropriate time steps is used to explore the effects of varying the parameters on the presence of chaos in the two physical models. Chaos easily occurs in the galactic model as the mass of the nucleus, the internal perturbation parameter, and the anisotropy of the potential of the elliptical galaxy increase. The dynamics of charged particles around the magnetized Kerr spacetime is easily chaotic for larger energies of the particles, smaller initial angular momenta of the particles, and stronger magnetic fields. The chaotic properties are not necessarily weakened when the black-hole spin increases. The new method can be used for any six-dimensional Hamiltonian problems, including globally hyperbolic spacetimes with readily available (3 + 1) split coordinates.

Microlensing predictions: Impact of Galactic disc dynamical models

Galactic model plays an important role in the microlensing field, not only for analyses of individual events but also for statistics of the ensemble of events. However, the Galactic models used in the field varies, and some are unrealistically simplified. Here we tested three Galactic disc dynamic models, the first is a simple standard model that was widely used in this field, whereas the other two consider the radial dependence of the velocity dispersion, and in the last model, the asymmetric drift. We found that for a typical lens mass ML = 0.5 M⊙, the two new dynamical models predict $\sim 16{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ or $\sim 5{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ less long-timescale events (e.g. microlensing timescale tE > 300 days) and $\sim 5{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ and $\sim 3.5{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ more short-timescale events (tE < 3 days) than the standard model. Moreover, the microlensing event rate as a function of Einstein radius θE or microlensing parallax πE also shows some model dependence (a few per cent). The two new models also have an impact on the total microlensing event rate. This result will also to some degree affect the Bayesian analysis of individual events, but overall, the impact is small. However, we still recommend that modelers should be more careful when choosing the Galactic model, especially in statistical works involving Bayesian analyses of a large number of events. Additionally, we find the asymptotic power-law behaviors in both θE and πE distributions, and we provide a simple model to understand them.

Influence of galactic arm scale dynamics on the molecular composition of the cold and dense ISM III. Elemental depletion and shortcomings of the current physico-chemical models

ABSTRACT We present a study of the elemental depletion in the interstellar medium. We combined the results of a Galactic model describing the gas physical conditions during the formation of dense cores with a full-gas-grain chemical model. During the transition between diffuse and dense medium, the reservoirs of elements, initially atomic in the gas, are gradually depleted on dust grains (with a phase of neutralization for those which are ions). This process becomes efficient when the density is larger than 100 cm−3. If the dense material goes back into diffuse conditions, these elements are brought back in the gas phase because of photo-dissociations of the molecules on the ices, followed by thermal desorption from the grains. Nothing remains on the grains for densities below 10 cm−3 or in the gas phase in a molecular form. One exception is chlorine, which is efficiently converted at low density. Our current gas–grain chemical model is not able to reproduce the depletion of atoms observed in the diffuse medium except for Cl, which gas abundance follows the observed one in medium with densities smaller than 10 cm−3. This is an indication that crucial processes (involving maybe chemisorption and/or ice irradiation profoundly modifying the nature of the ices) are missing.

Probability of simultaneous parallax detection for free-floating planet microlensing events near Galactic Centre

ABSTRACT The event rate and the efficiency of mass estimation for free-floating planet (FFP) microlensing events were determined from the simulation of the simultaneous parallax observations by Euclid, WFIRST, and LSST. The stellar population from the Besançon Galactic model toward (l, b) = (1°, −1.°75) was applied to our 3D microlensing model, and 30 000 parallax observations were simulated for each following FFP lens masses: Jupiter mass, Neptune mass, and Earth mass assuming the population of one FFP per star. The interstellar dust, unresolved stellar background, nearby star blending was modelled. A signal-to-noise limit considering a finite source effect determined the event detectability. The Euclid–WFIRST combination yielded 30.7 Jupiter-mass FFPs during two 30-d periods per year in parallax observation. The parallax event rate decreases to 3.9 FFPs for Earth-mass planets. The mass estimation from the parallax light curve allowed recovery of FFP masses to within a factor of 2 for 20–26 per cent of cases. The Euclid–LSST combination yielded 34.5 Jupiter-mass FFPs down to 0.5 Earth-mass FFPs for the same periods and the mass is recovered to within a factor of 2 in 20–40 per cent of cases. The event rate will be normalized by the unknown FFP abundance to recover the number of expected detections.

High reddening patches in Gaia DR2

Context. Deep GALEX UV data show that the extreme outskirts of some spiral galaxies are teeming with star formation. Such young stellar populations evolving so far away from the bulk of their host galaxies challenge our overall understanding of how star formation proceeds at galactic scales. It is at present unclear whether our own Milky Way may also exhibit ongoing and recent star formation beyond the conventional edge of the disk (∼15 kpc). Aims. Using Gaia DR2 data, we aim to determine if such a population is present in the Galactic halo, beyond the nominal radius of the Milky Way disk. Methods. We studied the kinematics of Gaia DR2 sources with parallax values between 1/60 and 1/30 milliarcseconds towards two regions that show abnormally high values of extinction and reddening; the results are compared with predictions from GALAXIA Galactic model. We also plotted the color–magnitude (CM) diagrams with heliocentric distances computed inverting the parallaxes, and studied the effects of the large parallax errors by Monte Carlo sampling. Results. The kinematics point towards a Galactic origin for one of the regions, while the provenance of the stars in the other is not clear. A spectroscopic analysis of some of the sources in the first region confirms that they are located in the halo. The CM diagram of the sources suggests that some of them are young.

OGLE-2017-BLG-1186: first application of asteroseismology and Gaussian processes to microlensing

We present the analysis of the event OGLE-2017-BLG-1186 from the 2017 Spitzer microlensing campaign. This is a remarkable microlensing event because its source is photometrically bright and variable, which makes it possible to perform an asteroseismic analysis using ground-based data. We find that the source star is an oscillating red giant with average time-scale of ∼9 d. The asteroseismic analysis also provides us source properties including the source angular size (∼27 $\mu$as) and distance (∼11.5 kpc), which are essential for inferring the properties of the lens. When fitting the light curve, we test the feasibility of Gaussian processes (GPs) in handling the correlated noise caused by the variable source. We find that the parameters from the GP model are generally more loosely constrained than those from the traditional χ2 minimization method. We note that this event is the first microlensing system for which asteroseismology and GPs have been used to account for the variable source. With both finite-source effect and microlens parallax measured, we find that the lens is likely a ∼0.045 M⊙ brown dwarf at distance ∼9.0 kpc, or a ∼0.073 M⊙ ultracool dwarf at distance ∼9.8 kpc. Combining the estimated lens properties with a Bayesian analysis using a Galactic model, we find a $\sim 35{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ probability for the lens to be a bulge object and $\sim 65{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ to be a background disc object.

The Magellanic System: the puzzle of the leading gas stream

ABSTRACT The Magellanic Clouds (MCs) are the most massive gas-bearing systems falling into the Galaxy at the present epoch. They show clear signs of interaction, manifested in particular by the Magellanic Stream, a spectacular gaseous wake that trails from the MCs extending more than 150° across the sky. Ahead of the MCs is the ‘Leading Arm’ usually interpreted as the tidal counterpart of the Magellanic Stream, an assumption we now call into question. We revisit the formation of these gaseous structures in a first-infall scenario, including for the first time a Galactic model with a weakly magnetized, spinning hot corona. In agreement with previous studies, we recover the location and the extension of the Stream on the sky. In contrast, we find that the formation of the Leading Arm – that is otherwise present in models without a corona – is inhibited by the hydrodynamic interaction with the hot component. These results hold with or without coronal rotation or a weak, ambient magnetic field. Since the existence of the hot corona is well established, we are led to two possible interpretations: (i) the Leading Arm survives because the coronal density beyond 20 kpc is a factor ≳10 lower than required by conventional spheroidal coronal X-ray models, in line with recent claims of rapid coronal rotation; or (ii) the ‘Leading Arm’ is cool gas trailing from a frontrunner, a satellite moving ahead of the MCs, consistent with its higher metallicity compared to the trailing stream. Both scenarios raise issues that we discuss.

Halo intruders in the Galactic bulge revealed by HST and Gaia: the globular clusters Terzan 10 and Djorgovski 1

Context. The low-latitude globular clusters Terzan 10 and Djorgovski 1 are projected in the Galactic bulge, in a Galactic region highly affected by extinction. A discrepancy of a factor of ∼2 exists in the literature in regards to the distance determination of these clusters. Aims. We revisit the colour-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of these two globular clusters with the purpose of disentangling their distance determination ambiguity and, for the first time, of determining their orbits to identify whether or not they are part of the bulge/bar region. Methods. We use Hubble Space Telescope CMDs, with the filters F606W from ACS and F160W from WFC3 for Terzan 10, and F606W and F814W from ACS for Djorgosvski 1, and combine them with the proper motions from Gaia Data Release 2. For the orbit integrations, we employed a steady Galactic model with bar. Results. For the first time the blue horizontal branch of these clusters is clearly resolved. We obtain reliable distances of d⊙ = 10.3 ± 1.0 kpc and 9.3 ± 0.5 kpc for Terzan 10, and Djorgovski 1 respectively, indicating that they are both currently located in the bulge volume. From Gaia DR2 proper motions, together with our new distance determination and recent literature radial velocities, we are able to show that the two sample clusters have typical halo orbits that are passing by the bulge/bar region, but that they are not part of this component. For the first time, halo intruders are identified in the bulge.