No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Long γ-ray bursts (GRBs) are the most dramatic examples of massive stellar deaths, often associated with supernovae. They release ultra-relativistic jets, which produce non-thermal emission through synchrotron radiation as they interact with the surrounding medium. Here we report observations of the unusual GRB 101225A. Its γ-ray emission was exceptionally long-lived and was followed by a bright X-ray transient with a hot thermal component and an unusual optical counterpart. During the first 10 days, the optical emission evolved as an expanding, cooling black body, after which an additional component, consistent with a faint supernova, emerged. We estimate its redshift to be z = 0.33 by fitting the spectral-energy distribution and light curve of the optical emission with a GRB-supernova template. Deep optical observations may have revealed a faint, unresolved host galaxy. Our proposed progenitor is a merger of a helium star with a neutron star that underwent a common envelope phase, expelling its hydrogen envelope. The resulting explosion created a GRB-like jet which became thermalized by interacting with the dense, previously ejected material, thus creating the observed black body, until finally the emission from the supernova dominated. An alternative explanation is a minor body falling onto a neutron star in the Galaxy.

International audienceWe report on new nearby L and late-M dwarfs (dphot <= 30 pc) discovered in our search for nearby ultracool dwarfs (I-J >= 3.0, later than M8.0) at low Galactic latitude (|b| < 15°) over 4800 deg2 in the Deep Near Infrared Survey of the Southern Sky (DENIS) data base. We used late-M (>= M8.0), L and T dwarfs with accurate trigonometric parallaxes to calibrate the MJ versus I-J colour-luminosity relation. The resulting photometric distances have standard errors of ~15 per cent, which we used to select candidates dphot <= 30 pc. We measured proper motions from multi-epoch images found in the public archives ALADIN, DSS, 2MASS and DENIS, with at least three distinct epochs and time baselines of 10-21 yr. We then used a maximum reduced proper motion cut-off to select 28 candidates as ultracool dwarfs (M8.0-L8.0) and to reject one as a distant red star. No T dwarf candidates were found in this search, which required an object to be detected in all three DENIS bands. Our low-resolution optical spectra confirmed that 26 were indeed ultracool dwarfs, with spectral types from M8.0 to L5.5. Two contaminants and one rejected by the maximum reduced proper motion cut-off were all reddened F-K main sequence stars. 20 of these 26 ultracool dwarfs are new nearby ultracool dwarf members, three L dwarfs within 15 pc with one L3.5 at only ~10 pc. We determine a stellar density of dwarfs pc-3 mag-1 over 11.1 <= MJ <= 13.1 based on this sample of M8-L3.5 ultracool dwarfs. Our ultracool dwarf density value is in good agreement with the measurement by Cruz et al. of the ultracool dwarf density at high Galactic latitude

The Javalambre-Physics of the Accelerating Universe Astrophysical Survey (J-PAS) will scan thousands of square degrees of the northern sky with a unique set of 56 filters using the dedicated 2.55m JST at the Javalambre Astrophysical Observatory. Prior to the installation of the main camera (4.2 deg 2 field-of-view with 1.2 Gpixels), the JST was equipped with the JPAS-Pathfinder, a one CCD camera with a 0.3 deg 2 field-of-view and plate scale of 0.23 arcsec pixel −1 . To demonstrate the scientific potential of J-PAS, the JPAS-Pathfinder camera was used to perform miniJPAS, a ∼1 deg 2 survey of the AEGIS field (along the Extended Groth Strip). The field was observed with the 56 J-PAS filters, which include 54 narrow band (NB, FWHM ∼ 145 Å) and two broader filters extending to the UV and the near-infrared, complemented by the u, g, r, i SDSS broad band (BB) filters. In this miniJPAS survey overview paper, we present the miniJPAS data set (images and catalogs), as we highlight key aspects and applications of these unique spectro-photometric data and describe how to access the public data products. The data parameters reach depths of mag AB 22 − 23.5 in the 54 narrow band filters and up to 24 in the broader filters (5σ in a 3 aperture). The miniJPAS primary catalog contains more than 64, 000 sources detected in the r band and with matched photometry in all other bands. This catalog is 99% complete at r = 23.6 (r = 22.7) mag for point-like (extended) sources. We show that our photometric redshifts have an accuracy better than 1% for all sources up to r = 22.5, and a precision of ≤ 0.3% for a subset consisting of about half of the sample. On this basis, we outline several scientific applications of our data, including the study of spatially-resolved stellar populations of nearby galaxies, the analysis of the large scale structure up to z ∼ 0.9, and the detection of large numbers of clusters and groups. Sub-percent redshift precision can also be reached for quasars, allowing for the study of the large-scale structure to be pushed to z > 2. The miniJPAS survey demonstrates the capability of the J-PAS filter system to accurately characterize a broad variety of sources and paves the way for the upcoming arrival of J-PAS, which will multiply this data by three orders of magnitude. For reference, the miniJPAS data and associated value added catalogs are publicly available http://archive.cefca.es/catalogues/minijpas-pdr201912.

No abstract