Broad-band spectral evolution and temporal variability of IGR J17091-3624 during its 2016 outburst: <Emphasis Type="Italic">SWIFT</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">NuSTAR</Emphasis> results

We report on the 2016 outburst of the transient Galactic Black Hole candidate IGR J17091-3624 based on the observation campaign carried out with SWIFT and NuSTAR. The outburst profile, as observed with SWIFT-XRT, shows a typical ‘q’-shape in the Hardness Intensity Diagram (HID). Based on the spectral and temporal evolution of the different parameters, we are able to identify all the spectral states in the q-profile of HID and the Hardness-RMS diagram (HRD). Both XRT and NuSTAR observations show an evolution of low frequency Quasi periodic oscillations (QPOs) during the low hard and hard intermediate states of the outburst rising phase. We also find mHz QPOs along-with distinct coherent class variabilities (heartbeat oscillations) with different timescales, similar to the \(\rho \)-class (observed in GRS 1915+105). Phenomenological modelling of the broad-band XRT and NuSTAR spectra also reveals the evolution of high energy cut-off and presence of reflection from ionized material during the rising phase of the outburst. Further, we conduct the modelling of X-ray spectra of SWIFT and NuSTAR in 0.5–79 keV to understand the accretion flow dynamics based on two component flow model. From this modelling, we constrain the mass of the source to be in the range of \(10.62\mbox{--}12.33~\mbox{M}_{\odot }\) with 90% confidence, which is consistent with earlier findings.     

Thermodynamic studies of different black holes with modifications of entropy

In recent years, the thermodynamic properties of black holes are topics of interests. We investigate the thermodynamic properties like surface gravity and Hawking temperature on event horizon of regular black holes viz. Hayward Class and asymptotically AdS (Anti-de Sitter) black holes. We also analyze the thermodynamic volume and naive geometric volume of asymptotically AdS black holes and show that the entropy of these black holes is simply the ratio of the naive geometric volume to thermodynamic volume. We plot the different graphs and interpret them physically. We derive the ‘cosmic-Censorship-Inequality’ for both type of black holes. Moreover, we calculate the thermal heat capacity of aforesaid black holes and study their stabilities in different regimes. Finally, we compute the logarithmic correction to the entropy for both the black holes considering the quantum fluctuations around the thermal equilibrium and study the corresponding thermodynamics.     

Accretion flow dynamics during 1999 outburst of XTE J1859+226—modeling of broadband spectra and constraining the source mass

We examine the dynamical behavior of accretion flow around XTE J1859+226 during the 1999 outburst by analyzing the entire outburst data (～166 days) from RXTE Satellite. Towards this, we study the hysteresis behavior in the hardness intensity diagram (HID) based on the broadband (3–150 keV) spectral modeling, spectral signature of jet ejection and the evolution of Quasi-periodic Oscillation (QPO) frequencies using the two-component advective flow model around a black hole. We compute the flow parameters, namely Keplerian accretion rate (\({\dot{m}}_{d}\)), sub-Keplerian accretion rate (\({\dot{m}}_{h}\)), shock location (\(r_{s}\)) and black hole mass (\(M_{\mathit{bh}}\)) from the spectral modeling and study their evolution along the q-diagram. Subsequently, the kinetic jet power is computed as \(L^{\mathrm{obs}}_{\mathrm{jet}} \sim3\mbox{--}6 \times10^{37}~\mbox{erg}\,\mbox{s}^{-1}\) during one of the observed radio flares which indicates that jet power corresponds to 8–16% mass outflow rate from the disc. This estimate of mass outflow rate is in close agreement with the change in total accretion rate (～14%) required for spectral modeling before and during the flare. Finally, we provide a mass estimate of the source XTE J1859+226 based on the spectral modeling that lies in the range of 5.2–7.9 \(M_{\odot}\) with 90% confidence.     

Search and study of objects of the early universe

The “Big Trio” program is conducted at the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences (SAO RAS) aiming to investigate a sample of sources with steep and ultra-steep spectra fromthe RCcatalog obtained on the basis of observational data of the “Cold” survey. The population of distant FRII type radio galaxies with steep spectra is of particular interest, since new data indicate the presence of black holes with masses of more than 10⁹ M _⊙ which already formed in these giant stellar systems in the first billion years of life of the Universe, as well as their connection with emerging clusters. There are three sources with z _sp > 3 in the sample. According to the observations of the 6-m SAO RAS telescope, the archival data of Subaru and Spitzer, an increased density of objects and several Lyα-emitters have been detected near one of the most powerful radio galaxies, RCJ0311+0507 (4C+04.11) with z = 4.51, which is the second most distant of the known FRII-type galaxies. Another object— RCJ1740+0502 with z = 3.57, is a possible dual AGN candidate. The third source, RCJ0105+0501, is an FRII-type galaxy (z = 3.138) with a host galaxy of a complex structure, possibly generated by interaction in a close pair of galaxies. These radio sources have high radio luminosity (L _500MHz ≈ 10²⁸–10²⁹WHz^?1), which requires the presence of a giant black hole with a sufficient accretion rate, and also with a rapid rotation, which in turn can be provided by major merging.     

The outburst of the X-ray nova GRS 1739-278 in September 2016

During the scanning observations of the Galactic center region in late August–September 2016 we detected a new (third) outburst of the historical X-ray nova GRS 1739-278, a presumed black hole in a low-mass X-ray binary. This was reported in the Astronomer’s Telegrams (Mereminskiy et al. 2016). In this paper we present the results of INTEGRAL and Swift observations of the outburst development. According to these observations, the flux from the source in the hard X-ray band (20–60 keV) rose from ~11 (September 3) to ~30 mCrab (September 14), was at the attained level for ~8 days, and then returned to ~15 mCrab. The spectrum of the source taken at its peak brightness in the energy range 0.5–150 keV could be fitted by a single power law with a photon index of 1.86 ± 0.07 distorted only by photoabsorption corresponding to the hydrogen column density log₁₀ (N _H) = 22.37 under the assumption of a solar abundance. This means that the source at this time was in the low/hard state. Infrared observations with the RTT-150 telescope near the X-ray brightness peak of the source revealed no emission down to \(22_ \cdot ^m 0\) (in the r’ band) and \(20_ \cdot ^m 9\) (in the i’ band). At the time of writing the paper we do not yet know whether this outburst ended or only its initial stage was observed. If it ended, then based on the light curve and spectra, we can state that it was a “failed” outburst, i.e., the amount of accreted matter in this episode was insufficient to reach the high or very high state with a soft blackbody component in the spectrum characteristic of developed outbursts.     

Formation of Double Neutron Stars,Millisecond Pulsars and Double Black Holes

The 1982 model for the formation of Hulse–Taylor binary radio pulsar PSR B1913+16 is described, which since has become the ‘standard model’ for the formation of the double neutron stars, confirmed by the 2003 discovery of the double pulsar system PSR J0737-3039AB. A brief overview is given of the present status of our knowledge of the double neutron stars, of which 15 systems are presently known. The binary-recycling model for the formation of millisecond pulsars is described, as put forward independently by Alpar et al. (1982), Radhakrishnan & Srinivasan (1982) and Fabian et al. (1983). This now is the ‘standard model’ for the formation of these objects, confirmed by the discovery in 1998 of the accreting millisecond X-ray pulsars. It is noticed that the formation process of close double black holes has analogies to that of close double neutron stars, extended to binaries with larger initial component masses, although there are also considerable differences in the physics of the binary evolution at these larger masses.     

A systematic analysis of the XMM-Newton background: I. Dataset and extraction procedures

XMM-Newton is the direct precursor of the future ESA ATHENA mission. A study of its particle-induced background provides therefore significant insight for the ATHENA mission design. We make use of ～12 years of data, products from the third XMM-Newton catalog as well as FP7 EXTraS project to avoid celestial sources contamination and to disentangle the different components of the XMM-Newton particle-induced background. Within the ESA R&D AREMBES collaboration, we built new analysis pipelines to study the different components of this background: this covers time behavior as well as spectral and spatial characteristics.     

New Features of Parenago’s Discontinuity from Gaia DR1 Data

The velocity field of main-sequence stars and red giants from the TGAS catalogue with heliocentric distances up to 1.5 kpc has been analyzed for various spectral types. To estimate the influence of a low accuracy of stellar parallax measurements on the results of a kinematic analysis of distant stars, first we have studied in detail how the kinematic parameters derived with 1/π distances are shifted when these distances are replaced by three other versions of distances from Astraatmadja et al. (2016b). We have obtained detailed tables in which the ranges of these shifts in the Ogorodnikov–Milne and Bottlinger model parameters are shown for the stars of each spectral type. We have the smallest shifts in the case of determining the Oort coefficients A and B, for which there are 10% shifts only for main-sequence stars of spectral type B. In the remaining cases, these shifts are 0–3%. For the remaining parameters the shifts do not exceed 30%. Thus, we have shown that using the 1/π distance scale in estimating the Ogorodnikov–Milne and Bottlingermodel parameters (except for the parameter Ω″₀) yields reliable results even when using parallaxes with large relative errors (up to 60%). To study Parenago’s discontinuity, we have investigated the dependence of the Ogorodnikov–Milne and Bottlinger model parameters on color for 1 260 071 mainsequence stars and 534 387 red giants. As far as we know, such a data set is used for the first time to investigate Parenago’s discontinuity. The main result is the detection of maximum points at B ? V = 0.75 after which the solar velocity component V and the Oort coefficient B decrease when moving from blue stars to red ones. This fact is a new feature of Parenago’s discontinuity, because the component V does not change in the classical case at B ? V >0.6. We have made an attempt to represent the well-known Parenago’s discontinuity as a special case of the more complex effect of a gradual change in a number of kinematic parameters as the mean age and composition of the group of stars under study changes.     

Spectroscopic study of the optical counterpart to the fast X-ray transient IGR J17544-2619 based on observations at the 1.5-m RTT-150 telescope

We present the results of our long-term photometric and spectroscopic observations at the Russian–Turkish RTT-150 telescope for the optical counterpart to one of the best-known sources, representatives of the class of fast X-ray transients, IGR J17544-2619. Based on our optical data, we have determined for the first time the orbital and physical parameters of the binary system by the methods of Doppler spectroscopy.We have calculated theoretical spectra of the optical counterpart by applying non- LTE corrections for selected lines and obtained the parameters of the stellar atmosphere (T _eff = 33 000 K, log g = 3.85, R = 9.5 R _⊙, and M = 23 M _⊙). The latter suggest that the optical star is not a supergiant as has been thought previously.     

Advective accretion flow properties around rotating black holes – application to GRO J1655-40

We examine the properties of the viscous dissipative accretion flow around rotating black holes in the presence of mass loss. Considering the thin disc approximation, we self-consistently calculate the inflow-outflow solutions and observe that the mass outflow rates decrease with the increase in viscosity parameter (\(\alpha \)). Further, we carry out the model calculation of quasi-periodic oscillation frequency (\(\nu _{\mathrm{QPO}}\)) that is frequently observed in black hole sources and observe that \(\nu ^\mathrm{max}_{\mathrm{QPO}}\) increases with the increase of black hole spin (\(a_k\)). Then, we employ our model in order to explain the High Frequency Quasi-Periodic Oscillations (HFQPOs) observed in black hole source GRO J1655-40. While doing this, we attempt to constrain the range of \(a_k\) based on observed HFQPOs (\(\sim \)300 Hz and \(\sim \)450 Hz) for the black hole source GRO J1655-40.     

ASTRONIRCAM—the infrared camera-spectrograph for the 2.5-m telescope of SAI Caucasian observatory

ASTRONIRCAM is a cryogenic-cooled slit camera-spectrograph for the spectral range 1–2.5 μm installed at the Nasmyth focus of the 2.5-meter telescope of the Caucasian observatory of the Sternberg Astronomical Institute of Lomonosov Moscow State University. The instrument is equipped with a HAWAII-2RG 2048×2048 HgCdTe array. Grisms are used as dispersive elements. In the photometric mode ASTRONIRCAM allows for extended astronomical object imaging in a 4.′6 × 4.′6 field of view with a 0.269 arcsec/pixel scale in standard photometric bands J, H, K, and K _s as well as in the narrow-band filters centered on the lines CH₄, [Fe II], H₂ v=1-0 S(1), Br _γ , and CO. In the spectroscopic mode, ASTRONIRCAM takes spectra of extended or point-like sources with a spectral resolution of R = λ/Δλ ≤ 1200. The general design, optical system, detector electronics and readout, amplification and digitization schemes are considered. The GAIN conversion factor measurement results are described as well as its dependence on the accumulated signal (nonlinearity).The full transmission of the atmosphere-to-detector train ranges from 40 to 50% in the wide-band photometry mode. The ASTRONIRCAMsensitivity at the 2.5-m telescope is characterized by the limiting J = 20, K = 19 stellar magnitudes measured with a 10% precision and 15 minute integration for 1″ atmospheric seeing conditions. References to the first results based on ASTRONIRCAM observations are given.     

Quiescent and Active States of V1413 Aql I: Photometric Activity Criterion and the Detection of a Secondary Minimum

We present the results of our photometric UBV JHKL observations for the symbiotic star V1413 Aql obtained in 2012–2018. An analysis of the data has shown that inMay 2017 the system passed to a quiescent state with B ? V ≈ 0_? 6 for the first time since 1993. It lasted no more than five months. The J ? K color at the primary minimum of 2012 reached 1_? 5, which, given the interstellar reddening, corresponds to spectral type M5-M6 III of the cool component. A secondary minimum has been detected at φ ≈ 0.5 on the JK phase light curves constructed for the dates of observations with B ≥ 13.     

Spectral and photometric studies of polar CRTS CSS 130604 J 215427+155714

We present the results of spectroscopic and photometric studies of a new polar CRTS CSS130604 J 215427+155714, conducted at the telescopes of the SAO RAS. Analysis of the photometric series of observations allowed to clarify the orbital period of the system, P _o = 0_. ^d 0672879 (±0.0000003). We build radial velocity curves and trace the intensity variations in the Hβ and H_γ hydrogen lines and He II λ 4686 ?A ionized heliumline. Based on the Hβ and He II lines we build Doppler maps. It is shown that the line formation region is localized near the Lagrange point. The following parameter estimates of the system are obtained:M ₁ = 0.83 ± 0.10M _⊙, M ₂ = 0.15 ± 0.01M _⊙, q = M ₂/M ₁ = 0.18 ± 0.03, i = 53? ± 5?. Based on the results of spectral, photometric and previously published polarimetric observations the possible geometric model of the system is discussed.     

Evolution of Intergalactic Gas in the Neighborhood of Dwarf Galaxies and Its Manifestations in the HI 21 cm Line

Low-mass galaxies are known to have played the crucial role in the hydrogen reionization in the Universe. In this paper we investigate the contribution of soft x-ray radiation (E ~ 0.1–1 keV) from dwarf galaxies to hydrogen ionization during the initial reionization stages. The only possible sources of this radiation in the process of star formation in dwarf galaxies during the epochs preceding the hydrogen reionization epoch are hot intermediate-mass stars (M ~ 5–8 M_⊙) that entered the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stage and massive x-ray binaries. We analyze the evolution of the intergalactic gas in the neighborhood of a dwarf galaxy with a total mass of 6 × 10⁸M_⊙ formed at the redshift of z ~ 15 and having constant star-formation rate of 0.01–0.1 M_⊙ yr^?1 over a starburst with a duration of up to 100 Myr. We show that the radiation from AGB stars heats intergalactic gas to above 100 K and ensures its ionization x_e ? 0.03 within about 4–10 kpc from the galaxy in the case of a star-formation rate of star formation 0.03–0.1 M_⊙ yr^?1, and that after the end of the starburst this region remains quasi-stationary over the following 200–300 Myr, i.e., until z ~ 7.5. Formation of x-ray binaries form in dwarf galaxies at z ~ 15 results in a 2–3 and 5–6 times greater size of the ionized and heated region compared to the case where ionization is produced by AGB stars exclusively, if computed with the “x-ray luminosity–star-formation rate” dependence (L_X ~ f_XSFR) factor f_X = 0.1 and f_X ~ 1, respectively. For f_X ? 0.03 the effect of x-ray binaries is smaller that that of AGB star population. Lyα emission, heating, and ionization of the intergalactic gas in the neighborhood of dwarf galaxies result in the excitation of the 21 cm HI line. We found that during the period of the starburst end at z ~11.5–12.5 the brightness temperature in the neighborhood of galaxies is 15–25 mK and the region where the brightness temperature remains close to its maximum has a size of about 12–30 kpc. Hence the epoch of the starburst end is most favorable for 21 cm HI line observations of dwarf galaxies, because at that time the size of the region of maximum brightness temperature is the greatest over the entire evolution of the dwarf galaxy. In the case of the sizes corresponding to almost 0.’1 for z ~ 12 regions with maximum emission can be detected with the Square Kilometre Array, which is currently under construction.     

A failed outburst of H1743−322

We report on a campaign of X-ray and soft γ-ray observations of the black hole candidate (BHC) H1743−322 (also named IGR J17464-3213), performed with the RXTE , INTEGRAL and Swift satellites. The source was observed during a short outburst between 2008 October 03 and November 16. The evolution of the hardness–intensity diagram throughout the outburst is peculiar, in that it does not follow the canonical pattern through all the spectral states (the so-called q-track pattern) seen during the outburst of black hole transients. On the contrary, the source only makes a transition from the hard state to the hard–intermediate state. After this transition, the source decreases in luminosity and its spectrum hardens again. This behaviour is confirmed by both spectral and timing analyses. This kind of outburst has been rarely observed before in a transient BHC.     

Cosmological Evolution of Average Continuum Spectra of Radio Sources at <Emphasis Type="Italic">Z</Emphasis> &gt;2 Redshifts

A new method is proposed for studying the population of distant radio sources. It is based on building the average continuum radio spectrum for objects located within the given redshift interval. In this paper the redshift bin size dz is set equal to 0.1. The data about the average spectra can theoretically be used to study the distribution of the large-scale structure and the features of its formation. On the practical side the average spectra at different z can be used to simulate the distribution of radio sources, which is required in various computational tasks. The change of the form of the spectrum at different z is indicative of the cosmological evolution of the population of radio sources.     

Results of Complex Observations of Asteroid (596) Scheila at the Sanglokh International Astronomical Observatory

Results of astrometric and BVRI photometric observations of the active asteroid (596) Scheila are presented. The observations were carried out at the Zeiss-1000 telescope of the Sanglokh International Astronomical Observatory of the Institute of Astrophysics of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tajikistan on June 16?17 and from July 30 to August 1, 2017. The coordinates of the object and its orbit were determined; and the apparent brightness in four filters, the absolute brightness in the V and R filters, and the color indices were obtained. The light curves suggest that no substantial changes in the asteroid’s brightness occurred during the observations. The absolute brightness of the asteroid in the V and R filters was (9.1 ± 0.05)^m and (8.8 ± 0.03)^m, respectively. The mean value of the asteroid diameter was (119 ± 2) km. The mean values of the color indices (B?V = (0.72 ± 0.05)^m, V?R = (0.29 ± 0.03)^m, and R?I = (0.31 ± 0.03)^m) agree well with the values for asteroids of the P- and D-types and its averages. The rotation period of the asteroid estimated from photometric observations was 16.1 ± 0.2 h. The analysis of the data has shown that the asteroid continues to exhibit the same values of absolute brightness and other characteristics as those before the collision with a small body in December 2010, though the latter resulted in the outburst event and cometary activity of the asteroid. Most likely, the collision of asteroid (596) Scheila with a small body did not lead to catastrophic changes in the surface of the asteroid or to its compete break-up.     

Imaging Spectropolarimeter for the Multi-Application Solar Telescope at Udaipur Solar Observatory: Characterization of Polarimeter and Preliminary Observations

The Multi-Application Solar Telescope (MAST) is a 50 cm off-axis Gregorian telescope that has recently become operational at the Udaipur Solar Observatory (USO). An imaging spectropolarimeter is being developed as one of the back-end instruments of MAST to gain a better understanding of the evolution and dynamics of solar magnetic and velocity fields. This system consists of a narrow-band filter and a polarimeter. The polarimeter includes a linear polarizer and two sets of liquid crystal variable retarders (LCVRs). The instrument is intended for simultaneous observations in the spectral lines 6173 Å and 8542 Å, which are formed in the photosphere and chromosphere, respectively. In this article, we present results from the characterization of the LCVRs for the spectral lines of interest and the response matrix of the polarimeter. We also present preliminary observations of an active region obtained using the spectropolarimeter. For verification purposes, we compare the Stokes observations of the active region obtained from the Helioseismic Magnetic Imager (HMI) onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) with that of MAST observations in the spectral line 6173 Å. We find good agreement between the two observations, considering the fact that MAST observations are limited by seeing.     

$$M_{\bullet } - \sigma $$ relation in spherical systems

To investigate the \(M_\bullet -\sigma \) relation, we consider realistic elliptical galaxy profiles that are taken to follow a single power-law density profile given by \(\rho (r) = \rho _{0}(r/ r_{0})^{-\gamma }\) or the Nuker intensity profile. We calculate the density using Abel’s formula in the latter case by employing the derived stellar potential; in both cases. We derive the distribution function f(E) of the stars in the presence of the supermassive black hole (SMBH) at the center and hence compute the line-of-sight (LoS) velocity dispersion as a function of radius. For the typical range of values for masses of SMBH, we obtain \(M_{\bullet } \propto \sigma ^{p}\) for different profiles. An analytical relation \(p = (2\gamma + 6)/(2 + \gamma )\) is found which is in reasonable agreement with observations (for \(\gamma = 0.75{-}1.4\), \(p = 3.6{-}5.3\)). Assuming that a proportionality relation holds between the black hole mass and bulge mass, \(M_{\bullet } =f M_\mathrm{b}\), and applying this to several galaxies, we find the individual best fit values of p as a function of f; also by minimizing \(\chi ^{2}\), we find the best fit global p and f. For Nuker profiles, we find that \(p = 3.81 \pm 0.004\) and \(f = (1.23 \pm 0.09)\times 10^{-3}\) which are consistent with the observed ranges.     

Cosmological implications of exponential harmonic field with collisional matter

We have studied the evolution of cosmological parameters by considering exponential harmonic field with collisional matter. A comparison has been made with the behavior of these parameters in the presence of ordinary matter and the model \(\Lambda CDM\). We have also compared the evolution of these parameters with the ones obtained in the modified gravity f(R) and f(R, T) theory case. The results are in line with those of the modified gravity so that the harmonic exponential field can be used to explain why the Universe has gone from the deceleration phase to the acceleration phase.