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Abstract
This second paper presents an in-depth analysis of the composition of the planetary material that has been accreted on to seven white dwarfs with circumstellar dust and gas emission discs with abundances reported in Rogers et al. The white dwarfs are accreting planetary bodies with a wide range of oxygen, carbon, and sulphur volatile contents, including one white dwarf that shows the most enhanced sulphur abundance seen to date. Three white dwarfs show tentative evidence (2-3 sigma) of accreting oxygen-rich material, potentially from water-rich bodies, whilst two others are accreting dry, rocky material. One white dwarf is accreting a mantle-rich fragment of a larger differentiated body, whilst two white dwarfs show an enhancement in their iron abundance and could be accreting core-rich fragments. Whilst most planetary material accreted by white dwarfs display chondritic or bulk Earth-like compositions, these observations demonstrate that core-mantle differentiation, disruptive collisions, and the accretion of core-mantle differentiated material are important. Less than 1 per cent of polluted white dwarfs host both observable circumstellar gas and dust. It is unknown whether these systems are experiencing an early phase in the disruption and accretion of planetary bodies, or alternatively if they are accreting larger planetary bodies. From this work there is no substantial evidence for significant differences in the accreted refractory abundance ratios for those white dwarfs with or without circumstellar gas, but there is tentative evidence for those with circumstellar gas discs to be accreting more water rich material which may suggest that volatiles accrete earlier in a gas-rich phase.
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Conel Alexander
August 16, 2024
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August 16, 2024
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August 16, 2024
Organizational News

Isotope geochemist Andrea Giuliani joins Carnegie Science as new Staff Scientist

Abstract
We present optical follow-up of IGR J16194-2810, a hard X-ray source discovered by the INTEGRAL mission. The optical counterpart is a similar to 500 L circle dot red giant at a distance of 2.1 kpc. We measured 17 radial velocities (RVs) of the giant over a period of 271 days. Fitting these RVs with a Keplerian model, we find an orbital period of P orb = 192.73 +/- 0.01 days and a companion mass function f(M 2) = 0.365 +/- 0.003 M circle dot. We detect ellipsoidal variability with the same period in optical light curves from the ASAS-SN survey. Joint fitting of the RVs, light curves, and the broadband spectral energy distribution allows us to robustly constrain the masses of both components. We find a giant mass of M star=0.99-0.03+0.02M circle dot and a companion mass of M2=1.23-0.03+0.05M circle dot , implying that the companion is a neutron star (NS). We recover a 4.06 hr period in the system's TESS light curve, which we tentatively associate with the NS spin period. The giant does not yet fill its Roche lobe, suggesting that current mass transfer is primarily via winds. Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics evolutionary models predict that the giant will overflow its Roche lobe in 5-10 Myr, eventually forming a recycled pulsar + white dwarf binary with a similar to 900 days period. IGR J16194-2810 provides a window on the future evolution of wide NS + main sequence binaries recently discovered via Gaia astrometry. As with those systems, the binary's formation history is uncertain. Before the formation of the NS, it likely survived a common envelope episode with a donor-to-accretor mass ratio greater than or similar to 10 and emerged in a wide orbit. The NS likely formed with a weak kick (v kick less than or similar to 50 km s-1), as stronger kicks would have disrupted the orbit.
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Abstract
Primitive arc magmas are more oxidized and enriched in sulfur-34 (34S) compared to mid-ocean ridge basalts. These findings have been linked to the addition of slab-derived volatiles, particularly sulfate, to arc magmas. However, the oxidation state of sulfur in slab fluids and the mechanisms of sulfur transfer in the slab remain inconclusive. Juxtaposed serpentinite and eclogitic metagabbro from the Voltri Massif (Italy) provide evidence for sulfur mobilization and associated redox processes during infiltration of fluids. Using bulk rock and in situ delta34S measurements, combined with thermodynamic calculations, we document the transfer of bisulfide-dominated, 34S-enriched fluids in equilibrium with serpentinite into adjacent metagabbro. We argue that the process documented in this study is pervasive along the subduction interface and infer that subsequent melting of these reacted slab-mantle interface rocks could produce melts that display the characteristic oxygen fugacity and sulfur isotope signatures of arc magmas worldwide.
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Abstract
Ethylene plays its essential roles in plant development, growth, and defense responses by controlling the transcriptional reprograming, in which EIN2-C-directed regulation of histone acetylation is the first key step for chromatin to perceive ethylene signaling. But how the nuclear acetyl coenzyme A (acetyl CoA) is produced to ensure the ethylene-mediated histone acetylation is unknown. Here we report that ethylene triggers the accumulation of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC) in the nucleus to synthesize nuclear acetyl CoA to regulate ethylene response. PDC is identified as an EIN2-C nuclear partner, and ethylene triggers its nuclear accumulation. Mutations in PDC lead to an ethylene hyposensitivity that results from the reduction of histone acetylation and transcription activation. Enzymatically active nuclear PDC synthesizes nuclear acetyl CoA for EIN2-C-directed histone acetylation and transcription regulation. These findings uncover a mechanism by which PDC-EIN2 converges the mitochondrial enzyme-mediated nuclear acetyl CoA synthesis with epigenetic and transcriptional regulation for plant hormone response.
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Abstract
Organs that pump luminal fluids by the coordinated beat of motile cilia are integral to animal physiology. Such organs include the human airways, brain ventricles and reproductive tracts. Although cilia organization and duct morphology vary drastically in the animal kingdom, ducts are typically classified as carpet or flame designs. The reason behind the appearance of these two different designs and how they relate to fluid pumping remain unclear. Here, we demonstrate that two structural parameters-lumen diameter and cilia-to-lumen ratio-organize the observed duct diversity into a continuous spectrum that connects carpets to flames across all animal phyla. Using a unified fluid model, we show that carpets and flames represent trade-offs between flow rate and pressure generation. We propose that the convergence of ciliated organ designs follows functional constraints rather than phylogenetic distance and offer guiding design principles for synthetic ciliary pumps.
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Abstract
We report the discovery of a close-in (P orb = 3.349 days) warm Neptune with clear transit timing variations (TTVs) orbiting the nearby (d = 47.3 pc) active M4 star, TOI-2015. We characterize the planet's properties using Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) photometry, precise near-infrared radial velocities (RVs) with the Habitable-zone Planet Finder Spectrograph, ground-based photometry, and high-contrast imaging. A joint photometry and RV fit yields a radius Rp=3.37-0.20+0.15R circle plus , mass mp=16.4-4.1+4.1M circle plus , and density rho p=2.32-0.37+0.38gcm-3 for TOI-2015 b, suggesting a likely volatile-rich planet. The young, active host star has a rotation period of P rot = 8.7 +/- 0.9 days and associated rotation-based age estimate of 1.1 +/- 0.1 Gyr. Though no other transiting planets are seen in the TESS data, the system shows clear TTVs of super-period Psup approximate to 430days and amplitude similar to 100 minutes. After considering multiple likely period-ratio models, we show an outer planet candidate near a 2:1 resonance can explain the observed TTVs while offering a dynamically stable solution. However, other possible two-planet solutions-including 3:2 and 4:3 resonances-cannot be conclusively excluded without further observations. Assuming a 2:1 resonance in the joint TTV-RV modeling suggests a mass of mb=13.3-4.5+4.7M circle plus for TOI-2015 b and mc=6.8-2.3+3.5M circle plus for the outer candidate. Additional transit and RV observations will be beneficial to explicitly identify the resonance and further characterize the properties of the system.
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Abstract
Organic macromolecular matter is the dominant carrier of volatile elements such as carbon, nitrogen and noble gases in chondrites-the rocky building blocks from which Earth formed. How this macromolecular substance formed in space is unclear. Here we show that its formation could be associated with the presence of dust traps, which are prominent mechanisms for forming planetesimals in planet-forming disks. We demonstrate the existence of heavily irradiated zones in dust traps, where small frozen molecules that coat large quantities of microscopic dust grains could be rapidly converted into macromolecular matter by receiving radiation doses of up to several tens of electronvolts per molecule per year. This allows for the transformation of simple molecules into complex macromolecular matter within several decades. Up to roughly 4% of the total disk ice reservoir can be processed this way and subsequently incorporated into the protoplanetary disk midplane where planetesimals form. This finding shows that planetesimal formation and the production of organic macromolecular matter, which provides the essential elemental building blocks for life, might be linked.
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