On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of ∼ 1.7 s with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg2 at a luminosity distance of 40 − 8 + 8 Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 M ⊙ . An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at ∼ 40 Mpc ) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One-Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ∼10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient’s position ∼ 9 and ∼ 16 days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC 4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta.

The Javalambre Photometric Local Universe Survey (J-PLUS ) is an ongoing 12-band photometric optical survey, observing thousands of square degrees of the Northern Hemisphere from the dedicated JAST/T80 telescope at the Observatorio Astrofísico de Javalambre (OAJ). The T80Cam is a camera with a field of view of 2 deg 2 mounted on a telescope with a diameter of 83 cm, and is equipped with a unique system of filters spanning the entire optical range (3500-10 000 Å). This filter system is a combination of broad-, medium-, and narrow-band filters, optimally designed to extract the rest-frame spectral features (the 3700-4000 Å Balmer break region, Hδ, Ca H+K, the G band, and the Mg b and Ca triplets) that are key to characterizing stellar types and delivering a low-resolution photospectrum for each pixel of the observed sky. With a typical depth of AB ∼21.25 mag per band, this filter set thus allows for an unbiased and accurate characterization of the stellar population in our Galaxy, it provides an unprecedented 2D photospectral information for all resolved galaxies in the local Universe, as well as accurate photo-z estimates (at the δ z/(1 + z) ∼ 0.005-0.03 precision level) for moderately bright (up to r ∼ 20 mag) extragalactic sources. While some narrow-band filters are designed for the study of particular emission features ([O ii]/λ3727, Hα/λ6563) up to z < 0.017, they also provide well-defined windows for the analysis of other emission lines at higher redshifts. As a result, J-PLUS has the potential to contribute to a wide range of fields in Astrophysics, both in the nearby Universe (Milky Way structure, globular clusters, 2D IFU-like studies, stellar populations of nearby and moderate-redshift galaxies, clusters of galaxies) and at high redshifts (emission-line galaxies at z ≈ 0.77, 2.2, and 4.4, quasi-stellar objects, etc.). With this paper, we release the first ∼1000 deg 2 of J-PLUS data, containing about 4.3 million stars and 3.0 million galaxies at r < 21 mag. With a goal of 8500 deg 2 for the total J-PLUS footprint, these numbers are expected to rise to about 35 million stars and 24 million galaxies by the end of the survey.Article published by EDP Sciences A176, page 1 of 25

In the framework of the open-time key program "Herschel M 33 extended survey (HerM33es)", we study the far-infrared emission from the nearby spiral galaxy M 33 in order to investigate the physical properties of the dust such as its temperature and luminosity density across the galaxy. Taking advantage of the unique wavelength coverage (100, 160, 250, 350, and 500 μm) of the Herschel Space Observatory and complementing our dataset with Spitzer-IRAC 5.8 and 8 μm and Spitzer-MIPS 24 and 70 μm data, we construct temperature and luminosity density maps by fitting two modified blackbodies of a fixed emissivity index of 1.5. We find that the "cool" dust grains are heated to temperatures of between 11 K and 28 K, with the lowest temperatures being found in the outskirts of the galaxy and the highest ones both at the center and in the bright HII regions. The infrared/submillimeter total luminosity (5-1000 μm) is estimated to be 1.9 × 10 9 +4.0×10 8 −4.4×10 8 L . Fifty-nine percent of the total infrared/submillimeter luminosity of the galaxy is produced by the "cool" dust grains (∼15 K), while the remaining 41% is produced by "warm" dust grains (∼55 K). The ratio of the cool-to-warm dust luminosity is close to unity (within the computed uncertainties), throughout the galaxy, with the luminosity of the cool dust being slightly higher at the center than the outer parts of the galaxy. Decomposing the emission of the dust into two components (one emitted by the diffuse disk of the galaxy and one emitted by the spiral arms), we find that the fraction of the emission from the disk in the mid-infrared (24 μm) is 21%, while it gradually rises up to 57% in the submillimeter (500 μm). We find that the bulk of the luminosity comes from the spiral arm network that produces 70% of the total luminosity of the galaxy with the rest coming from the diffuse dust disk. The "cool" dust inside the disk is heated to temperatures in a narrow range between 18 K and 15 K (going from the center to the outer parts of the galaxy).

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