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Mar 10

Solar System Elemental Abundances from the Solar Photosphere and CI-Chondrites

Solar photospheric abundances and CI-chondrite compositions are reviewed and updated to obtain representative solar system abundances of the elements and their isotopes. The new photospheric abundances obtained here lead to higher solar metallicity. Full 3D NLTE photospheric analyses are only available for 11 elements. A quality index for analyses is introduced. For several elements, uncertainties remain large. Protosolar mass fractions are H (X = 0.7060), He (Y = 0.2753), and for metals Li to U (Z = 0.0187). The protosolar (C+N)/H agrees within 13% with the ratio for the solar core from the Borexino experiment. Elemental abundances in CI-chondrites were screened by analytical methods, sample sizes, and evaluated using concentration frequency distributions. Aqueously mobile elements (e.g., alkalis, alkaline earths, etc.) often deviate from normal distributions indicating mobilization and/or sequestration into carbonates, phosphates, and sulfates. Revised CI-chondrite abundances of non-volatile elements are similar to earlier estimates. The moderately volatile elements F and Sb are higher than before, as are C, Br and I, whereas the CI-abundances of Hg and N are now significantly lower. The solar system nuclide distribution curves of s-process elements agree within 4% with s-process predictions of Galactic chemical evolution models. P-process nuclide distributions are assessed. No obvious correlation of CI-chondritic to solar elemental abundance ratios with condensation temperatures is observed, nor is there one for ratios of CI-chondrites/solar wind abundances.

  • 3 authors
·
Feb 14, 2025

Beyond monoculture: Polydisperse moment methods for sub-stellar atmosphere cloud microphysics II. A three-moment gamma distribution formulation for GCM applications

Context. Understanding how the shape of cloud particle size distributions affects the atmospheric properties of sub-stellar atmospheres is a key area to explore, particularly in the JWST era of broad wavelength coverage, where observations are sensitive to particle size distributions. It is therefore important to elucidate how underlying cloud microphysical processes influence the size distribution, in order to better understand how clouds affect observed atmospheric properties. Aims. In this follow-up paper, we aim to extend our sub-stellar atmosphere microphysical cloud formation framework from Paper I to include effects of assuming a polydisperse gamma particle size distribution, requiring a three-moment solution set of equations. Methods. We develop a three-moment framework for sub-stellar mineral cloud particle microphysical nucleation, condensation, evaporation and collisional growth assuming a gamma distribution. As in the previous paper, we demonstrate the effects of polydispersity using a simple one-dimensional Y-dwarf KCl cloud formation scenario, and compare the results with the monodisperse case. Results. Our three-moment scheme provides a generalised framework applicable to any size distribution with a defined moment generation expression. In our test case, we show that the gamma distribution evolves with altitude, initially broad at the cloud base and narrowing at lower pressures. We find that differences between the gamma and monodisperse cloud structures can be significant, depending on the surface gravity of the atmosphere. Conclusions. We present a self-consistent framework for including the effects of polydispersity for sub-stellar microphysical cloud studies using the moment method.

  • 2 authors
·
Jul 17, 2025

First Light And Reionisation Epoch Simulations (FLARES) XII: The consequences of star-dust geometry on galaxies in the EoR

Using the First Light And Reionisation Epoch Simulations ({rm F{small LARES}}), a suite of hydrodynamical simulations we explore the consequences of a realistic model for star--dust geometry on the observed properties of galaxies. We find that the UV attenuation declines rapidly from the central regions of galaxies, and bright galaxies have spatially extended star formation that suffers less obscuration than their fainter counterparts, demonstrating a non-linear relationship between the UV luminosity and the UV attenuation, giving a double power-law shape to the UVLF. Spatially distinct stellar populations within galaxies experience a wide range of dust attenuation due to variations in the dust optical depth along their line-of-sight; which can range from completely dust obscured to being fully unobscured. The overall attenuation curve of a galaxy is then a complex combination of various lines-of-sight within the galaxy. We explore the manifestation of this effect to study the reliability of line ratios to infer galaxy properties, in particular the Balmer decrement and the BPT diagram. We find the Balmer decrement predicted Balmer line attenuation to be higher (factor of 1 to gtrsim10) than expected from commonly used attenuation curves. The observed BPT line ratios deviate from their intrinsic values (median difference of 0.08 (0.02) and standard deviation of 0.2 (0.05) for log_{10}([N{small II}]lambda 6585/H_{alpha}) (log_{10}([O{small III}]lambda 5008/H_{beta})). Finally, we explore the variation in observed properties (UV attenuation, UV slope and Balmer decrement) with viewing angle, finding average differences of sim0.3 magnitudes in the UV attenuation.

  • 8 authors
·
Mar 7, 2023

Pre-perihelion Development of Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS

We describe pre-perihelion optical observations of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS taken during July - September 2025 using the Nordic Optical Telescope. Fixed aperture photometry of the comet is well described by a power law function of heliocentric distance, rH, with the exponent (``index") n = 3.8+/-0.3 across the 4.6 au to 1.8 au distance range (phase function 0.04+/-0.02 magnitude/degree assumed). This indicates that the dust production rates vary in proportion to rH**(-1.8+/-0.3). An rH**(-2) variation is expected of a strongly volatile material, and consistent with independent spectroscopic observations showing that carbon dioxide is the primary driver of activity. The measured heliocentric index is unremarkable in the context of solar system comets, for which n is widely dispersed, and provides no basis on which to describe 3I as either dynamically old (thermally processed) or new (pristine). The morphology of the comet changes from a Sun-facing dust fan in the early 2025 July observations, to one dominated by an antisolar dust tail at later dates. We attribute the delayed emergence of the tail to the large size (effective radius 0.1 mm) and slow ejection (5 m/s) of the optically dominant dust particles, and their consequently sluggish response to solar radiation pressure. Small (micron-sized) particles may be present but not in numbers sufficient to dominate the scattering cross-section. Their relative depletion possibly reflects interparticle cohesion, which binds small particles more effectively than large ones. A similar preponderance of 0.1 mm grains was reported in 2I/Borisov. However, 2I differed from 3I in having a much smaller (asteroid-like) heliocentric index, n = 1.9+/-0.1. Dust production rates in 3I are 180 kg/s at 2 au, compared with 70 kg/s in 2I/Borisov at the same distance.

  • 2 authors
·
Oct 21, 2025

Deriving pulsar pair-production multiplicities from pulsar wind nebulae using H.E.S.S. and LHAASO observations

Pulsar Wind Nebulae (PWNe) dominate the galactic gamma-ray sky at very high energies, and are major contributors to the leptonic cosmic ray flux. However, whether or not pulsars also accelerate ions to comparable energies is not yet experimentally confirmed. We aim to constrain the birth period and pair-production multiplicity for a set of pulsars. In doing so, we aim to constrain the proportion of ions in the pulsar magnetosphere and hence the proportion of ions that could enter the pulsar wind. We estimate possible ranges of the value of the average pair production multiplicity for a sample of 26 pulsars in the Australia Telescope National Facility (ATNF) catalogue, which have also been observed by the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) telescopes. We then derive lower limits for the pulsar birth periods and average pair production multiplicities for a subset of these sources where the extent of the pulsar wind nebula and surrounding supernova shell have been measured in the radio. We also derive curves for the average pair production multiplicities as a function of birth period for sources recently observed by the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO). We show that there is a potential for hadrons entering the pulsar wind for most of the H.E.S.S. and LHAASO sources we consider, dependent upon the efficiency of luminosity conversion into particles. We also present estimates of the pulsar birth period for six of these sources, which all fall into the range of simeq10-50 ms.

  • 2 authors
·
Feb 3, 2025

JWST observations of photodissociation regions III. Dust modelling at the illuminated edge of the Horsehead PDR

Carbonaceous nano-grains are a significant component of interstellar dust and dominate the mid-infrared emission of photodissociation regions (PDRs). We study the evolution of nano-grains across the illuminated edge of the Horsehead PDR, especially their abundance and size properties. This work is part of the Physics and Chemistry of PDR Fronts program studying dust and gas in PDRs with JWST. We use NIRCam+MIRI photometric bands and NIRSpec+MRS spectroscopy to map the illuminated edge. We model dust emission using the THEMIS dust model with the SOC radiative transfer code. Detailed modeling of high angular resolution JWST data allows us to obtain constraints on nano-grain properties. We find that diffuse ISM dust cannot account for the observed data, requiring evolved grains. A sharp density increase is observed at the illuminated edge, consistent with ALMA observations revealing a sharp transition between molecular and ionized gas. Although the PDR length could not be directly determined, we estimate an upper limit of approximately 0.015 pc. This implies a lower limit on small grain abundance (greater than 0.003), showing small grains are not depleted at the Horsehead edge, unlike in the Orion Bar. Our findings indicate a high-density environment and less steep size distribution for nano-grains at the illuminated edge versus the diffuse ISM. This implies nano-grain destruction mechanisms might be less efficient in the Horsehead's moderate-UV field than in more intense PDRs. These results support a model where nano-grain population recovery is slower in moderate-UV environments, leading to a unique dust size distribution at the edge of the Horsehead Nebula.

  • 22 authors
·
Oct 28, 2025

PDRs4All. XII. FUV-driven formation of hydrocarbon radicals and their relation with PAHs

We present subarcsecond-resolution ALMA mosaics of the Orion Bar PDR in [CI] 609 um, C2H (4-3), and C18O (3-2) emission lines, complemented by JWST images of H2 and aromatic infrared band (AIB) emission. The rim of the Bar shows very corrugated structures made of small-scale H2 dissociation fronts (DFs). The [CI] 609 um emission peaks very close (~0.002 pc) to the main H2-emitting DFs, suggesting the presence of gas density gradients. These DFs are also bright and remarkably similar in C2H emission, which traces 'hydrocarbon radical peaks' characterized by very high C2H abundances, reaching up to several x10^-7. The high abundance of C2H and of related hydrocarbon radicals, such as CH3, CH2, and CH, can be attributed to gas-phase reactions driven by elevated temperatures, the presence of C+ and C, and the reactivity of FUV-pumped H2. The hydrocarbon radical peaks roughly coincide with maxima of the 3.4/3.3 um AIB intensity ratio, a proxy for the aliphatic-to-aromatic content of PAHs. This implies that the conditions triggering the formation of simple hydrocarbons also favor the formation (and survival) of PAHs with aliphatic side groups, potentially via the contribution of bottom-up processes in which abundant hydrocarbon radicals react in situ with PAHs. Ahead of the DFs, in the atomic PDR zone (where [H]>>[H2]), the AIB emission is brightest, but small PAHs and carbonaceous grains undergo photo-processing due to the stronger FUV field. Our detection of trace amounts of C2H in this zone may result from the photoerosion of these species. This study provides a spatially resolved view of the chemical stratification of key carbon carriers in a PDR. Overall, both bottom-up and top-down processes appear to link simple hydrocarbon molecules with PAHs in molecular clouds; however, the exact chemical pathways and their relative contributions remain to be quantified.

  • 28 authors
·
Mar 5, 2025

High-energy neutrino emission from tidal disruption event outflow-cloud interactions

Tidal disruption events (TDEs), characterized by their luminous transients and high-velocity outflows, have emerged as plausible sources of high-energy neutrinos contributing to the diffuse neutrino. In this study, we calculate the contribution of TDEs to the diffuse neutrino by employing the outflow-cloud model within the TDE framework. Our analysis indicates that the contribution of TDEs becomes negligible when the redshift Z exceeds 2. Employing a set of fiducial values, which includes outflow energy E_{rm kin}=10^{51} erg, a proton spectrum cutoff energy E_{rm p,max}=100 PeV, a volume TDE rate N=8 times 10^{-7} rm Mpc^{-3} year^{-1}, covering fraction of clouds C_V=0.1, energy conversion efficiency in the shock eta =0.1, and a proton spectrum index Gamma=-1.7, we find that TDEs can account for approximately 80\% of the contribution at energies around 0.3 PeV. Additionally, TDEs still contribute around 18\% to the IceCube data below 0.1 PeV and the total contribution is sim 24^{+2}_{-15}%. In addition, we also discuss the potential influence of various parameter values on the results in detail. With the IceCube data, we impose constraints on the combination of the physical parameters, i.e., C_{f}=NE_{rm kin}C_{rm v}eta. Future observations or theoretical considerations would fix some physical parameters, which will help to constrain some individual parameters of TDEs.

  • 3 authors
·
Jul 16, 2024

Gas dynamics around a Jupiter mass planet: II. Chemical evolution of circumplanetary material

In an ongoing effort to understand planet formation the link between the chemistry of the protoplanetary disk and the properties of resulting planets have long been a subject of interest. These connections have generally been made between mature planets and young protoplanetary disks through the carbon-to-oxygen (C/O) ratio. In a rare number of systems, young protoplanets have been found within their natal protoplanetary disks. These systems offer a unique opportunity to directly study the delivery of gas from the protoplanetary disk to the planet. In this work we post-process 3D numerical simulations of an embedded Jupiter-massed planet in its protoplanetary disk to explore the chemical evolution of gas as it flows from the disk to the planet. The relevant dust to this chemical evolution is assumed to be small, co-moving grains with a reduced dust-to-gas ratio indicative of the upper atmosphere of a protoplanetary disk. We find that as the gas enters deep into the planet's gravitational well, it warms significantly (up to sim 800 K), releasing all of the volatile content from the ice phase. This change in phase can influence our understanding of the delivery of volatile species to the atmospheres of giant planets. The primary carbon, oxygen, and sulfur carrying ices: CO_2, H_2O, and H_2S are released into the gas phase and along with the warm gas temperatures near the embedded planets lead to the production of unique species like CS, SO, and SO_2 compared to the protoplanetary disk. We compute the column densities of SO, SO_2, CS, and H_2CS in our model and find that their values are consistent with previous observational studies.

  • 3 authors
·
Nov 26, 2024

The JWST EXCELS survey: direct estimates of C, N, and O abundances in two relatively metal-rich galaxies at zsimeq5

We present a spectroscopic analysis of two star-forming galaxies at z~5 observed with JWST/NIRSpec as part of the Early eXtragalactic Continuum and Emission Line Science (EXCELS) survey. The detection of the C III]lambdalambda1906,09, [O II]lambdalambda3726,29, [O III]lambdalambda4363,5007, and [N II]lambda6584 nebular emission lines enables investigation of the C/O, N/O, and C/N abundance ratios using the temperature-sensitive method. The two galaxies have stellar masses of log(M_{star}/M_{odot} ) = 8.13pm0.09 and log(M_{star}/M_{odot} )=8.52pm0.13 and corresponding metallicities of Z~0.2Z_{odot} and Z~0.3Z_{odot}. These metallicities are somewhat higher than is typical for other z>5 galaxies with similar stellar mass and are in fact comparable to high-redshift analogue galaxies at z~0. Both galaxies display evidence for N/O enhancement with respect to the z~0 sample, with log(N/O)=-1.07pm0.17 and log(N/O)=-0.86pm0.15 respectively. In contrast, we find low C abundances, with log(C/O)=-0.82pm0.22 and log(C/O)=-1.02pm0.22, consistent with the predicted yields of core-collapse supernovae. Following the trend observed in other high-redshift sources, we find that the C/N ratios are lower at fixed O/H compared to the majority of local galaxies. In contrast to the top-heavy IMF invoked in some studies to explain low C/N ratios in metal-poor galaxies, we find, via comparison to chemical evolution models, that a standard or bottom-heavy IMF better explains the observed abundance ratios in more enriched systems due to an increase in N-enrichment from intermediate mass (4-7M_{odot}) stars. Our results demonstrate that robust measurements of CNO abundances with JWST can reveal unique enrichment pathways in galaxies as a function of both metallicity and redshift.

  • 17 authors
·
Dec 13, 2024

Protosolar D-to-H abundance and one part-per-billion PH_{3} in the coldest brown dwarf

The coldest Y spectral type brown dwarfs are similar in mass and temperature to cool and warm (sim200 -- 400 K) giant exoplanets. We can therefore use their atmospheres as proxies for planetary atmospheres, testing our understanding of physics and chemistry for these complex, cool worlds. At these cold temperatures, their atmospheres are cold enough for water clouds to form, and chemical timescales increase, increasing the likelihood of disequilibrium chemistry compared to warmer classes of planets. JWST observations are revolutionizing the characterization of these worlds with high signal-to-noise, moderate resolution near- and mid-infrared spectra. The spectra have been used to measure the abundances of prominent species like water, methane, and ammonia; species that trace chemical reactions like carbon monoxide; and even isotopologues of carbon monoxide and ammonia. Here, we present atmospheric retrieval results using both published fixed-slit (GTO program 1230) and new averaged time series observations (GO program 2327) of the coldest known Y dwarf, WISE 0855-0714 (using NIRSpec G395M spectra), which has an effective temperature of sim 264 K. We present a detection of deuterium in an atmosphere outside of the solar system via a relative measurement of deuterated methane (CH_{3}D) and standard methane. From this, we infer the D/H ratio of a substellar object outside the solar system for the first time. We also present a well-constrained part-per-billion abundance of phosphine (PH_{3}). We discuss our interpretation of these results and the implications for brown dwarf and giant exoplanet formation and evolution.

  • 27 authors
·
Nov 21, 2024

Galaxy Zoo: Kinematics of strongly and weakly barred galaxies

We study the bar pattern speeds and corotation radii of 225 barred galaxies, using IFU data from MaNGA and the Tremaine-Weinberg method. Our sample, which is divided between strongly and weakly barred galaxies identified via Galaxy Zoo, is the largest that this method has been applied to. We find lower pattern speeds for strongly barred galaxies than for weakly barred galaxies. As simulations show that the pattern speed decreases as the bar exchanges angular momentum with its host, these results suggest that strong bars are more evolved than weak bars. Interestingly, the corotation radius is not different between weakly and strongly barred galaxies, despite being proportional to bar length. We also find that the corotation radius is significantly different between quenching and star forming galaxies. Additionally, we find that strongly barred galaxies have significantly lower values for R, the ratio between the corotation radius and the bar radius, than weakly barred galaxies, despite a big overlap in both distributions. This ratio classifies bars into ultrafast bars (R < 1.0; 11% of our sample), fast bars (1.0 < R < 1.4; 27%) and slow bars (R > 1.4; 62%). Simulations show that R is correlated with the bar formation mechanism, so our results suggest that strong bars are more likely to be formed by different mechanisms than weak bars. Finally, we find a lower fraction of ultrafast bars than most other studies, which decreases the recently claimed tension with {\Lambda}CDM. However, the median value of R is still lower than what is predicted by simulations.

  • 11 authors
·
Feb 10, 2023

Quarks to Cosmos: Particles and Plasma in Cosmological evolution

We describe in the context of the particle physics (PP) standard model (SM) `PP-SM' the understanding of the primordial properties and composition of the Universe in the temperature range 130GeV>T>20keV. The Universe evolution is described using FLRW cosmology. We present a global view on particle content across time and describe the different evolution eras using deceleration parameter q. We follow the arrow of time in the expanding and cooling Universe: After the PP-SM heavies (t, h, W, Z) diminish in abundance below Tsimeq 50GeV, the PP-SM plasma in the Universe is governed by the strongly interacting Quark-Gluon content. Once the temperature drops below Tsimeq 150MeV, quarks and gluons hadronize into strongly interacting matter particles. Rapid disappearance of baryonic antimatter completes at T_B=38.2MeV. We study the ensuing disappearance of strangeness and mesons in general. We show that the different eras defined by particle populations are barely separated from each other with abundance of muons fading out just prior to T=O(2.5)MeV, the era of emergence of the free-streaming neutrinos. We discuss the two relevant fundamental constants controlling the decoupling of neutrinos. We subsequently follow the primordial Universe as it passes through the hot dense electron-positron plasma epoch. The high density of positron antimatter disappears near T=20.3keV: Nuclear reactions occur in the presence of a highly mobile and relatively strongly interacting electron-positron plasma phase. We apply plasma theory methods to describe the strong screening effects between heavy dust particle (nucleons). We analyze the paramagnetic characteristics of the electron-positron plasma when exposed to an external primordial magnetic field.

  • 5 authors
·
Sep 26, 2024