We present nebular-phase spectra of the Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) 2016brx, a member of the 1991bg-like subclass that lies at the faint end of the SN Ia luminosity function. Nebular spectra are available for only three other 1991bg-like SNe, and their Co line centres are all within less than or similar to 500 km s(-1) of each other. In contrast, the nebular Co line centre of SN 2016brx is blue-shifted by >1500 km s(-1) compared to them and by approximate to 1200 km s(-1) compared to the rest frame. This is a significant shift relative to the narrow nebular line velocity dispersion of less than or similar to 2000 km s(-1) of these SNe. The large range of nebular line shifts implies that the Ni-56 in the ejecta of SN 1991bg-like events is off-centre by similar to 1000 km s(-1) rather than universally centrally confined as previously suggested. With the addition of SN 2016brx, the Co nebular line shapes of 1991bg-like objects appear to connect with the brighter SNe Ia that show double-peaked profiles, hinting at a continuous distribution of line profiles among SNe la. One class of models to produce both off-centre and bimodal Ni-56 distributions is collisions of white dwarfs with unequal and equal masses.

We present photometry of 30 Galactic RR Lyrae variables taken with HST WFC3/IR for the Carnegie-Chicago Hubble Program. These measurements form the base of the distance-ladder measurements that comprise a pure Population II base to a measurement of H-o at an accuracy of 3%. These data are taken with the same instrument and filter (F160W) as our observations of RR Lyrae stars in external galaxies so as to minimize sources of systematic error in our calibration of the extragalactic distance scale. We calculate mean magnitudes based on one to three measurements for each RR Lyrae star using star-by-star templates generated from densely time-sampled data at optical and midinfrared wavelengths. We use four RR Lyrae stars from our sample with well-measured HST parallaxes to determine a zero-point. This zero-point will soon be improved with the large number of precise parallaxes to be provided by Gaia. We also provide preliminary calibration with the TGAS and Gaia DR2 data, and all three zero points are in agreement, to within their uncertainties.

We describe test observations made with a customized 640 x 512 pixel indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) prototype astronomical camera on the 2.5 m DuPont telescope. This is the first test of InGaAs as a cost-effective alternative to HgCdTe for research-grade astronomical observations. The camera exhibits a background of 113 e(-1) s(-1)/pixel (dark + thermal) at operating sensor temperature T = -40 degrees C, maintained by a simple thermoelectric cooler. The optomechanical structure floats at ambient temperature with no cold stop, unlike most IR instruments which must be cooled to mitigate thermal backgrounds. Measurements of the night sky using a reimager scaled at 0.'' 4/pixel show that the sky flux in Y is comparable to the dark current. At J the sky exceeds dark current by a factor of four, dominating the noise budget. The read noise (similar to 43 e(-)) falls below sky + dark noise for exposures of t > 7 s in Y and 3.5 s in J. We observed several representative science targets, including two supernovae, a z = 6.3 quasar, two local galaxies monitored for IR transients, and a galaxy cluster at z = 0.87. We observe a partial transit of the hot Jupiter HATS-34b, demonstrating the photometric stability to detect a 1.2% transit. A tiling of larger-format sensors would produce an IR survey instrument with significant cost savings relative to HgCdTe-based cameras, if one is willing to forego the K band. Such a camera would be sensitive for a week or more to isotropic emission from r-process kilonova ejecta similar to that observed in GW170817, over the full 190 Mpc horizon of Advanced LIGO.

We test and improve the numerical schemes in our smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) code for cosmological simulations, including the pressure-entropy formulation (PESPH), a time-dependent artificial viscosity, a refined time-step criterion, and metal-line cooling that accounts for photoionization in the presence of a recently refined Haardt & Madau model of the ionizing background. The PESPH algorithm effectively removes the artificial surface tension present in the traditional SPH formulation, and in our test simulations, it produces better qualitative agreement with mesh-code results for Kelvin-Helmholtz instability and cold cloud disruption. Using a set of cosmological simulations, we examine many of the quantities we have studied in previous work. Results for galaxy stellar and Hi mass functions, star formation histories, galaxy scaling relations, and statistics of the Ly alpha forest are robust to the changes in numerics and microphysics. As in our previous simulations, cold gas accretion dominates the growth of high-redshift galaxies and of low-mass galaxies at low redshift, and recycling of winds dominates the growth of massive galaxies at low redshift. However, the PESPH simulation removes spurious cold clumps seen in our earlier simulations, and the accretion rate of hot gas increases by up to an order of magnitude at some redshifts. The new numerical model also influences the distribution of metals among gas phases, leading to considerable differences in the statistics of some metal absorption lines, most notably Ne VIII.

We report the detection of a hot Jupiter (M-p = 1.75(-0.17)(+0.14) M-J, R-p = 1.38 +/- 0.04R(J)) orbiting a middle-aged star (log g = 4.152(-0.043)(+0.030)) in the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) southern continuous viewing zone (beta = -79 degrees.59). We confirm the planetary nature of the candidate TOI-150.01 using radial velocity observations from the APOGEE-2 South spectrograph and the Carnegie Planet Finder Spectrograph, ground-based photometric observations from the robotic Three-hundred MilliMeter Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory, and Gaia distance estimates. Large-scale spectroscopic surveys, such as APOGEE/APOGEE-2, now have sufficient radial velocity precision to directly confirm the signature of giant exoplanets, making such data sets valuable tools in the TESS era. Continual monitoring of TOI-150 by TESS can reveal additional planets and subsequent observations can provide insights into planetary system architectures involving a hot Jupiter around a star about halfway through its main-sequence life.

As part of the 100IAS survey, a program aimed to obtain nebular-phase spectra for a volume-limited and homogeneous sample of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), we observed ASASSN-18tb (SN 2018fhw) at 139 d past maximum light. ASASSN-18tb was a fast-declining, sub-luminous event that fits well within the observed photometric and spectroscopic distributions of the SN Ia population. We detect a prominent H alpha emission line (L-H alpha = 2.2 +/- 0.2 x 10(38) ergs s(-1)) with FWHM approximate to 1100 km s(-1) in the nebular-phase spectrum of this SN Ia. High-luminosity H alpha emission (L-H alpha greater than or similar to 10(40) ergs s(-1)) has previously been discovered in a rare class of SNe Ia-like objects showing circum-stellar medium (CSM) interactions (SNe Ia-CSM). They predominantly belong to overluminous (M-max <-19 mag in optical) 1991T-like SNe Ia and are exclusively found in star-forming galaxies. By contrast, ASASSN-18tb is a sub-luminous SN Ia (M-B,M-max similar to-17.7mag) found in an early-type galaxy dominated by old stellar populations. We discuss possible origins for the observed hydrogen. Of the 75 SNe Ia for which we have so far obtained nebular spectra in 100IAS, no other SN shows a similar to 1000 km s(-1) H alpha emission line with comparable line luminosity as ASASSN-18tb, emphasizing the rarity of such emission in the nebular phase. Based on preliminary results from our survey, the rate for ASASSN-18tb-like nebular H alpha emission could be as high as similar to 10 per cent among sub-luminous SNe Ia.

We report comprehensive multi-wavelength observations of a peculiar Type Ia-like supernova ("SN Ia-pec") ASASSN-15pz. ASASSN-15pz is a spectroscopic "twin" of SN 2009dc, a so-called "Super-Chandrasekhar-mass" SN, throughout its evolution, but it has a peak luminosity M-B,(peak) = -19.69 +/- 0.12 mag that is approximate to 0.6 mag dimmer and comparable to the SN 1991T sub-class of SNe Ia at the luminous end of the normal width-luminosity relation. The synthesized Ni-56 mass of M-56Ni = 1.13 +/- 0.14 M-circle dot is also substantially less than that found for several 2009dc-like SNe. Previous well-studied 2009dc-like SNe have generally suffered from large and uncertain amounts of host-galaxy extinction, which is negligible for ASASSN-15pz. Based on the color of ASASSN-15pz, we estimate a host extinction for SN 2009dc of E(B - V)(host) = 0.12 mag and confirm its high luminosity (M-B,(peak) [2009dc] approximate to -20.3 mag). The 2009dc-like SN population, which represents similar to 1% of SNe Ia, exhibits a range of peak luminosities, and do not fit onto the tight width-luminosity relation. Their optical light curves also show significant diversity of late-time (greater than or similar to 50 days) decline rates. The nebular-phase spectra provide powerful diagnostics to identify the 2009dc-like events as a distinct class of SNe Ia. We suggest referring to these sources using the phenomenology-based "2009dc-like SN Ia-pec" instead of "Super-Chandrasekhar SN Ia," which is based on an uncertain theoretical interpretation.

Theoretical models of protoplanetary disc dispersal predict a phase where photoevaporation has truncated the disc at several au, creating a pressure trap which is dust-rich. Previous models predicted this phase could be long-lived (similar to Myr), contrary to the observational constraints. We show that dust in the pressure trap can be removed from the disc by radiation pressure exerting a significant acceleration, and hence radial velocity, on small dust particles that reside in the surface layers of the disc. The dust in the pressure trap is not subject to radial drift so it can grow to reach sizes large enough to fragment. Hence small particles removed from the surface layers are replaced by the fragments of larger particles. This link means radiation pressure can deplete the dust at all particle sizes, Through a combination of 1D and 2D models, along with secular models that follow the disc's long-term evolution, we show that radiation pressure can deplete dust from pressure traps created by photoevaporation in similar to 10(5) yr, while the photoevaporation created cavity still resides at 10 s of au. After this phase of radiation pressure removal of dust, the disc is gas-rich and dust depleted and radially optically thin to stellar light, having observational signatures similar to a gas-rich, young debris disc. Indeed many of the young stars (less than or similar to 10 Myr old) classified as hosting a debris disc may rather he discs that have undergone this process.

We report the discovery of the microlensing planet OGLE-201 8-BLG-0740Lb. The planet is detected with a very strong signal of Delta chi(2) similar to 4630, but the interpretation of the signal suffers from two types of degeneracies. One type is caused by the previously known close/wide degeneracy, and the other is caused by an ambiguity between two solutions, in which one solution requires the incorporation of finite-source effects, while the other solution is consistent with a point-source interpretation. Although difficult to be firmly resolved based on only the photometric data, the degeneracy is resolved in strong favor of the point-source solution with the additional external information obtained from astrometric and spectroscopic observations. The small astrometric offset between the source and baseline object supports that the blend is the lens and this interpretation is further secured by the consistency of the spectroscopic distance estimate of the blend with the lensing parameters of the point-source solution. The estimated mass of the host is 1.0 +/- 0.1 M-circle dot and the mass of the planet is 4.5 +/- 0.6 M-J (close solution) or 4.8 +/- 0.6 M-J (wide solution) and the lens is located at a distance of 3.2 +/- 0.5 kpc. The bright nature of the lens, with I similar to 17.1 (V similar to 18.2), combined with its dominance of the observed flux suggest that radial-velocity (RV) follow-up observations of the lens can be done using high-resolution spectrometers mounted on large telescopes, e.g., Very Large Telescope/ESPRESSO, and this can potentially not only measure the period and eccentricity of the planet but also probe for close-in planets. We estimate that the expected RV amplitude would be similar to 60 sin i m s(-1).

Each of the giant planets within the Solar system has large moons but none of these moons have their own moons ( which we call submoons). By analogy with studies of moons around short-period exoplanets, we investigate the tidal-dynamical stability of submoons. We find that 10 km-scale submoons can only survive around large ( 1000 km-scale) moons on wide-separation orbits. Tidal dissipation destabilizes the orbits of submoons around moons that are small or too close to their host planet; this is the case for most of the Solar system's moons. A handful of known moons are, however, capable of hosting long-lived submoons: Saturn's moons Titan and Iapetus, Jupiter's moon Callisto, and Earth's Moon. Based on its inferred mass and orbital separation, the newly discovered exomoon candidate Kepler-1625b-I can in principle host a large submoon, although its stability depends on a number of unknown parameters. We discuss the possible habitability of submoons and the potential for subsubmoons. The existence, or lack thereof, of submoons may yield important constraints on satellite formation and evolution in planetary systems.