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Abstract
Despite extensive efforts, to date only two quasars have been found at z > 7, due to a combination of low spatial density and high contamination from more ubiquitous Galactic cool dwarfs in quasar selection. This limits our current knowledge of the super-massive black hole growth mechanism and reionization history. In this Letter, we report the discovery of a luminous quasar at z = 7.021, DELS J003836.10-152723.6 (hereafter J0038-1527), selected using photometric data from Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument Legacy Imaging Survey, Pan-STARRS1 (PS1) imaging Survey, as well as Wide-field Infrared Survey Explore mid-infrared all-sky survey. With an absolute magnitude of M-1450 = -27.1 and bolometric luminosity of L-Bol = 5.6 x 10(13) L-circle dot, J0038-1527 is the most luminous quasar known at z > 7. Deep optical to near-infrared spectroscopic observations suggest that J0038-1527 hosts a 1.3 billion solar mass black hole accreting at the Eddington limit, with an Eddington ratio of 1.25 +/- 0.19. The C IV broad emission line of J0038-1527 is blueshifted by more than 3000 km s(-1) relative to the quasar systemic redshift. More detailed investigations of the high-quality spectra reveal three extremely high-velocity C IV broad absorption lines with velocity from 0.08 to 0.14 times the speed of light and total "balnicity" index of more than 5000 km s(-1), suggesting the presence of relativistic outflows. J0038-1527 is the first quasar found at the epoch of reionization with such strong outflows, and therefore provides a unique laboratory to investigate active galactic nuclei feedback on the formation and growth of the most massive galaxies in the early universe.
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Abstract
This is the fourth paper in a series of publications aiming at discovering quasars at the epoch of reionization. In this paper, we expand our search for z similar to 7 quasars to the footprint of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) Data Release One (DR1), covering similar to 5000 deg(2) of a new area. We select z similar to 7 quasar candidates using deep optical, near-infrared (near-IR) and mid-infrared (mid-IR) photometric data from the DES DR1, the VISTA Hemisphere Survey, the VISTA Kilo-degree Infrared Galaxy survey, the UKIRT InfraRed Deep Sky Surveys-Large Area Survey (ULAS), and the unblurred coadds from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explore (WISE) images (unWISE). The inclusion of DES and unWISE photometry allows the search to reach similar to 1 mag fainter, comparing to our z greater than or similar to 6.5 quasar survey in the northern sky. We report the initial discovery and spectroscopic confirmation of six new luminous quasars at z > 6.4, including an object at z = 7.02, the fourth quasar yet known at z > 7, from a small fraction of candidates observed thus far. Based on the recent measurement of z similar to 6.7 quasar luminosity function using the quasar sample from our survey in the northern sky, we estimate that there will be greater than or similar to 55 quasars at z > 6.5 at M-1450 < - 24.5 in the full DES footprint.
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Abstract
Context. Ruprecht 147 is the oldest (2.5 Gyr) open cluster in the solar vicinity (<300 pc), making it an important target for stellar evolution studies and exoplanet searches.
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Abstract
Bipolar planetary nebulae (PNe) are thought to result from binary star interactions and, indeed, tens of binary central stars of PNe have been found, in particular using photometric time-series that allow for the detection of post-common envelope systems. Using photometry at the NTT in La Silla we have studied the bright object close to the centre of PN M 3-2 and found it to be an eclipsing binary with an orbital period of 1.88 days. However, the components of the binary appear to be two A or F stars, of almost equal mass, and are therefore too cold to be the source of ionisation of the nebula. Using deep images of the central star obtained in good seeing conditions, we confirm a previous result that the central star is more likely much fainter, located 2 '' away from the bright star. The eclipsing binary is thus a chance alignment on top of the planetary nebula. We also studied the nebular abundance and confirm it to be a Type I PN.
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Abstract
Context. The study of star formation is extremely challenging, due to the lack of complete and clean samples of young nearby clusters and star-forming regions. The recent Gaia DR2 catalogue complemented with the deep ground-based COSMIC DANCe catalogue o ffers a new database of unprecedented accuracy to revisit the membership of clusters and star-forming regions. The 30 Myr open cluster IC 4665 is one of the few well-known clusters of this age and it is an excellent target where evolutionary models can be tested and planetary formation studied.
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Abstract
Atmospheric studies of spectroscopically accessible terrestrial exoplanets lay the groundwork for comparative planetology between these worlds and the solar system terrestrial planets. LHS 3844b is a highly irradiated terrestrial exoplanet (R = 1.303 0.022R(circle plus)) orbiting a mid-M dwarf 15 parsecs away. Work based on near-infrared Spitzer phase curves ruled out atmospheres with surface pressures >= 10 bars on this planet. We present 13 transit observations of LHS 3844b taken with the Magellan Clay telescope and the LDSS3C multi-object spectrograph covering 620-1020 nm. We analyze each of the 13 data sets individually using a Gaussian process regression, and present both white and spectroscopic light curves. In the combined white light curve we achieve an rms precision of 65 ppm when binning to 10 minutes. The mean white light-curve value of (R-p/R-s)(2)is 0.4170 0.0046%. To construct the transmission spectrum, we split the white light curves into 20 spectrophotometric bands, each spanning 20 nm, and compute the mean values of (R-p/R-s)(2)in each band. We compare the transmission spectrum to two sets of atmospheric models. We disfavor a clear, solar composition atmosphere (mu = 2.34) with surface pressures >= 0.1 bar to 5.2 sigma confidence. We disfavor a clear, H2O steam atmosphere (mu = 18) with surface pressures >= 0.1 bar to low confidence (2.9 sigma). Our observed transmission spectrum favors a flat line. For solar composition atmospheres with surface pressures >= 1 bar we rule out clouds with cloud-top pressures of 0.1 bar (5.3 sigma), but we cannot address high-altitude clouds at lower pressures. Our results add further evidence that LHS 3844b is devoid of an atmosphere.
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Abstract
Two sources of variability are reported in extreme horizontal branch (EHB) stars found in globular clusters, both related to the action of weak magnetic fields: large surface spots and very energetic flares. EHB stars in clusters can thus be linked to EHB field stars, and beyond, to other stars with radiative envelopes.
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Reading
April 21, 2022
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15 Inspiring Science Books to Add to Your Summer Reading List

Abstract
The establishment and maintenance of the symbiosis between a cnidarian host and its dinoflagellate symbionts is central to the success of coral reefs. To explore the metabolite production underlying this symbiosis, we focused on a group of low molecular weight secondary metabolites, biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs). BVOCs are released from an organism or environment, and can be collected in the gas phase, allowing non-invasive analysis of an organism's metabolism (i.e. 'volatilomics'). We characterised volatile profiles of the sea anemone Aiptasia (Exaiptasia diaphana), a model system for cnidarian-dinoflagellate symbiosis, using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry. We compared volatile profiles between: (1) symbiotic anemones containing their native symbiont, Breviolum minutum; (2) aposymbiotic anemones; and (3) cultured isolates of B. minutum. Overall, 152 BVOCs were detected, and classified into 14 groups based on their chemical structure, the most numerous groups being alkanes and aromatic compounds. A total of 53 BVOCs were differentially abundant between aposymbiotic anemones and B. minutum cultures; 13 between aposymbiotic and symbiotic anemones; and 60 between symbiotic anemones and cultures of B. minutum. More BVOCs were differentially abundant between cultured and symbiotic dinoflagellates than between aposymbiotic and symbiotic anemones, suggesting that symbiosis may modify symbiont physiology more than host physiology. This is the first volatilome analysis of the Aiptasia model system and provides a foundation from which to explore how BVOC production is perturbed under environmental stress, and ultimately the role they play in this important symbiosis.
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Abstract
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey V (SDSS-V) is an all-sky spectroscopic survey of >6 million objects, designed to decode the history of the Milky Way, reveal the inner workings of stars, investigate the origin of solar systems, and track the growth of supermassive black holes across the Universe. The Local Volume Mapper (LVM) is a facility designed to provide a contiguous 2,500 deg(2) integral-field survey over a 3.5 year period from Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. In this paper we provide an overview and status update for the LVM instrument (hereafter LVM-I). Each integral-field unit's spaxel probes linear scales that are sub-parsec (Milky Way) to similar to 10 pc (Magellanic Clouds) which is accomplished with an angular diameter of 36.9". LVM's spectral resolution is R = lambda/Delta lambda similar to 4, 000 which probes velocities of 33 kms(-1) (1 sigma) from 365 nm to 950 nm. LVM uses four 16-cm telescopes feeding three spectrographs. One telescope carries the bulk of the science load with similar to 1,800 fibers coupled to the field via a pair of lenslet arrays, two telescopes are used to measure the night sky spectra in fields that flank the science field, and a fourth telescope contemporaneously monitors bright standard stars to determine atmospheric extinction. We expect LVM-I to deliver percent-level precision on important line ratios down to a few Rayleigh. The three spectrographs are being built by Winlight corporation in France based on those for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI). In this paper we present the high-level system design of LVM-I including the lenslet-coupled fiber IFUs, telescopes, guiding+acquisition system, calibration systems, enclosures, and spectrographs.
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