The radio source FIRST J102347.6+003841 was presented as the first radio-selected cataclysmic. In the discovery paper, Bond et al. (2002) show a spectrum consistent with a magnetic AM Her-type system and a light curve with rapid, irregular flickering. In contrast, Woudt, Warner, and Pretorius (2004) found a smoothly-varying light curve with a period near 4.75 h and one minimum per orbit, indicating a dramatic change. We present time-resolved spectra showing a superficially normal, mid-G type photosphere, with no detectable emission lines. The absorption-line radial velocity varies sinusoidally, with semi-amplitude 268 +- 4 km/s, on the orbital period, which is refined to 0.198094(2) d. At this orbital period the secondary's spectral type is atypically early, suggesting an unusual evolutionary history. We also obtained BVI photometry around the orbit. The light curve resembles that given by Woudt et al., and the color modulation is consistent with a heating effect. A simple illumination model matches the observations strikingly well with a Roche-lobe filling secondary near 5650 kelvin being illuminated by a primary giving out around 2 solar luminosities. The modest amplitude of the observed modulation constrains the orbital inclination to be less than about 55 deg, unless the gravity darkening is artificially reduced. The resulting primary star mass is above the Chandrasekhar limit (assuming conventional gravity darkening). We examine the possibility that the compact object in this system is not a white dwarf, in which case this is not actually a cataclysmic variable. On close examination, FIRST J102347.6+003841 defies easy classification.Comment: 24 pages, 5 postscript and two JPG figures; Astronomical Journal, accepte

The rapid localization of GRB 021004 by the HETE-2 satellite allowed nearly continuous monitoring of its early optical afterglow decay, as well as high-quality optical spectra that determined a redshift of z 3 ¼ 2:328 for its host galaxy, an active starburst galaxy with strong Ly emission and several absorption lines. Spectral observations show multiple absorbers at z 3A ¼ 2:323, z 3B ¼ 2:317, and z 3C ¼ 2:293 blueshifted by $450, $990, and $3155 km s À1 , respectively, relative to the host galaxy Ly emission. We argue that these correspond to a fragmented shell nebula that has been radiatively accelerated by the gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglow at a distance e0.3 pc from a Wolf-Rayet star GRB progenitor. The chemical abundance ratios indicate that the nebula is overabundant in carbon and silicon. The high level of carbon and silicon is consistent with a swept-up shell nebula gradually enriched by a carbon-rich late-type Wolf-Rayet progenitor wind over the lifetime of the nebula prior to the GRB onset. The detection of statistically significant fluctuations and color changes about the jetlike optical decay further supports this interpretation, since fluctuations must be present at some level as a result of irregularities in a clumpy stellar wind medium or if the progenitor has undergone massive ejection prior to the GRB onset. This evidence suggests that the mass-loss process in a Wolf-Rayet star might lead naturally to an iron core collapse with sufficient angular momentum that could serve as a suitable GRB progenitor. Even though we cannot rule out definitely the alternatives of a dormant QSO, large-scale superwinds, or a several hundred year old supernova remnant responsible for the blueshifted absorbers, these findings point to the likelihood of a signature for a massive-star GRB progenitor.

We obtained 98 R-band and 18 B, r 0 , i 0 images of the optical afterglow of GRB 060526 (z ¼ 3:21) with the MDM 1.3 m, 2.4 m, and the PROMPT telescopes at CTIO over the five nights following the burst trigger. Combining these data with other optical observations reported in GCN and the Swift XRT observations, we compare the optical and X-ray afterglow light curves of GRB 060526. Both the optical and X-ray afterglow light curves show rich features, such as flares and breaks. The densely sampled optical observations provide very good coverage at T > 10 4 s. We observed a break at 2:4 ; 10 5 s in the optical afterglow light curve. Compared with the X-ray afterglow light curve, the break is consistent with an achromatic break supporting the beaming models of GRBs. However, the prebreak and postbreak temporal decay slopes are difficult to explain in simple afterglow models. We estimated a jet angle of j $ 7 and a prompt emission size of R prompt $ 2 ; 10 14 cm. In addition, we detected several optical flares with amplitudes of Ám $ 0:2, 0.6, and 0.2 mag. The X-ray afterglows detected by Swift have shown complicated decay patterns. Recently, many well-sampled optical afterglows also show decays with flares and multiple breaks. GRB 060526 provides an additional case of such a complex, well-observed optical afterglow. The accumulated well-sampled afterglows indicate that most of the optical afterglows are complex.

We present the first results from a reverberation-mapping campaign undertaken during the first half of 2012, with additional data on one active galactic nucleus (AGN) (NGC 3227) from a 2014 campaign. Our main goals are (1) to determine the black hole masses from continuum-Hβ reverberation signatures, and (2) to look for velocitydependent time delays that might be indicators of the gross kinematics of the broad-line region. We successfully measure Hβ time delays and black hole masses for five AGNs, four of which have previous reverberation mass measurements. The values measured here are in agreement with earlier estimates, though there is some intrinsic scatter beyond the formal measurement errors. We observe velocity-dependent Hβ lags in each case, and find that the patterns have changed in the intervening five years for three AGNs that were also observed in 2007.