Browsing by Author "Gromadzki, M."

Now showing 1 - 19 of 19
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    A Close Binary Lens Revealed by the Microlensing Event Gaia20bof
    (2024) Bachelet, E.; Rota, P.; Bozza, V.; Zielinski, P.; Tsapras, Y.; Hundertmark, M.; Wambsganss, J.; Wyrzykowski, L.; Mikolajczyk, P. J.; Street, R. A.; Jaimes, R. Figuera; Cassan, A.; Dominik, M.; Buckley, D. A. H.; Awiphan, S.; Nakhaharutai, N.; Zola, S.; Rybicki, K. A.; Gromadzki, M.; Howil, K.; Ihanec, N.; Jablonska, M.; Kruszynska, K.; Pylypenko, U.; Ratajczak, M.; Sitek, M.; Rabus, M.
    During the last 25 yr, hundreds of binary stars and planets have been discovered toward the Galactic bulge by microlensing surveys. Thanks to a new generation of large-sky surveys, it is now possible to regularly detect microlensing events across the entire sky. The OMEGA Key Projet at the Las Cumbres Observatory carries out automated follow-up observations of microlensing events alerted by these surveys with the aim of identifying and characterizing exoplanets as well as stellar remnants. In this study, we present the analysis of the binary lens event Gaia20bof. By automatically requesting additional observations, the OMEGA Key Project obtained dense time coverage of an anomaly near the peak of the event, allowing characterization of the lensing system. The observed anomaly in the lightcurve is due to a binary lens. However, several models can explain the observations. Spectroscopic observations indicate that the source is located at <= 2.0 kpc, in agreement with the parallax measurements from Gaia. While the models are currently degenerate, future observations, especially the Gaia astrometric time series as well as high-resolution imaging, will provide extra constraints to distinguish between them.
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    AT 2022aedm and a New Class of Luminous, Fast-cooling Transients in Elliptical Galaxies
    (2023) Nicholl, M.; Srivastav, S.; Fulton, M. D.; Gomez, S.; Huber, M. E.; Oates, S. R.; Ramsden, P.; Rhodes, L.; Smartt, S. J.; Smith, K. W.; Aamer, A.; Anderson, J. P.; Bauer, F. E.; Berger, E.; de Boer, T.; Chambers, K. C.; Charalampopoulos, P.; Chen, T. -w.; Fender, R. P.; Fraser, M.; Gao, H.; Green, D. A.; Galbany, L.; Gompertz, B. P.; Gromadzki, M.; Gutierrez, C. P.; Howell, D. A.; Inserra, C.; Jonker, P. G.; Kopsacheili, M.; Lowe, T. B.; Magnier, E. A.; Mccully, C.; Mcgee, S. L.; Moore, T.; Mueller-Bravo, T. E.; Newsome, M.; Gonzalez, E. Padilla; Pellegrino, C.; Pessi, T.; Pursiainen, M.; Rest, A.; Ridley, E. J.; Shappee, B. J.; Sheng, X.; Smith, G. P.; Terreran, G.; Tucker, M. A.; Vinko, J.; Wainscoat, R. J.; Wiseman, P.; Young, D. R.
    We present the discovery and extensive follow-up of a remarkable fast-evolving optical transient, AT 2022aedm, detected by the Asteroid Terrestrial impact Last Alert Survey (ATLAS). In the ATLAS o band, AT 2022aedm exhibited a rise time of 9 & PLUSMN; 1 days, reaching a luminous peak with M g & AP; -22 mag. It faded by 2 mag in the g band during the next 15 days. These timescales are consistent with other rapidly evolving transients, though the luminosity is extreme. Most surprisingly, the host galaxy is a massive elliptical with negligible current star formation. Radio and X-ray observations rule out a relativistic AT 2018cow-like explosion. A spectrum in the first few days after explosion showed short-lived He ii emission resembling young core-collapse supernovae, but obvious broad supernova features never developed; later spectra showed only a fast-cooling continuum and narrow, blueshifted absorption lines, possibly arising in a wind with v & AP; 2700 km s-1. We identify two further transients in the literature (Dougie in particular, as well as AT 2020bot) that share similarities in their luminosities, timescales, color evolution, and largely featureless spectra and propose that these may constitute a new class of transients: luminous fast coolers. All three events occurred in passive galaxies at offsets of & SIM;4-10 kpc from the nucleus, posing a challenge for progenitor models involving massive stars or black holes. The light curves and spectra appear to be consistent with shock breakout emission, though this mechanism is usually associated with core-collapse supernovae. The encounter of a star with a stellar-mass black hole may provide a promising alternative explanation.
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    Delayed appearance and evolution of coronal lines in the TDE AT2019qiz
    (Oxford University Press, 2023) Short, P.; Lawrence, A.; Nicholl, M.; Ward, M.; Reynolds, T. M.; Mattila, S.; Yin, C.; Arcavi, I; Carnall, A.; Charalampopoulos, P.; Gromadzki, M.; Jonker, P. G.; Kim, Sam; Leloudas, G.; Mandel, I; Onori, F.; Pursiainen, M.; Schulze, S.; Villforth, C.; Wevers, T.
    Tidal disruption events (TDEs) occur when a star gets torn apart by a supermassive black hole as it crosses its tidal radius. We present late-time optical and X-ray observations of the nuclear transient AT2019qiz, which showed the typical signs of an optical-UV transient class commonly believed to be TDEs. Optical spectra were obtained 428, 481, and 828 rest-frame days after optical light-curve peak, and a UV/X-ray observation coincided with the later spectrum. The optical spectra show strong coronal emission lines, including [Fe vii], [Fe x], [Fe xi], and [Fe xiv]. The Fe lines rise and then fall, except [Fe xiv] that appears late and rises. We observe increasing flux of narrow H & alpha; and H & beta; and a decrease in broad H & alpha; flux. The coronal lines have full width at half-maximum ranging from & SIM;150-300 km s(-1), suggesting they originate from a region between the broad- and narrow-line emitting gas. Between the optical flare and late-time observation, the X-ray spectrum softens dramatically. The 0.3-1 keV X-ray flux increases by a factor of & SIM;50, while the hard X-ray flux decreases by a factor of & SIM;6. Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer fluxes also rose over the same period, indicating the presence of an infrared echo. With AT2017gge, AT2019qiz is one of two examples of a spectroscopically confirmed optical-UV TDE showing delayed coronal line emission, supporting speculations that Extreme Coronal Line Emitters in quiescent galaxies can be echos of unobserved past TDEs. We argue that the coronal lines, narrow lines, and infrared emission arise from the illumination of pre-existing material likely related to either a previous TDE or active galactic nucleus activity.
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    Discovery of a brown dwarf companion to the A3V star beta Circini
    (2015) Smith, L.; Lucas, P.; Pena, C.; Kurtev, R.; Marocco, F.; Jones, H.; Beamin Muhlenbrock, Juan Carlos; Napiwotzki, R.; Borissova, J.; Burningham, B.; Faherty, J.; Pinfield, D.; Gromadzki, M.; Ivanov, V.; Minniti, D.; Stimson, W.; Villanueva, V.
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    Gaia22dkvLb: A Microlensing Planet Potentially Accessible to Radial-velocity Characterization
    (2024) Wu, Zexuan; Dong, Subo; Yi, Tuan; Liu, Zhuokai; El-Badry, Kareem; Gould, Andrew; Wyrzykowski, L.; Rybicki, K. A.; Bachelet, Etienne; Christie, Grant W.; de Almeida, L.; Monard, L. A. G.; McCormick, J.; Natusch, Tim; Zielinski, P.; Chen, Huiling; Huang, Yang; Liu, Chang; Merand, A.; Mroz, Przemek; Shangguan, Jinyi; Udalski, Andrzej; Woillez, J.; Zhang, Huawei; Hambsch, Franz-Josef; Mikolajczyk, P. J.; Gromadzki, M.; Ratajczak, M.; Kruszynska, Katarzyna; Ihanec, N.; Pylypenko, Uliana; Sitek, M.; Howil, K.; Zola, Staszek; Michniewicz, Olga; Zejmo, Michal; Lewis, Fraser; Bronikowski, Mateusz; Potter, Stephen; Andrzejewski, Jan; Merc, Jaroslav; Street, Rachel; Fukui, Akihiko; Jaimes, R. Figuera; Bozza, V.; Rota, P.; Cassan, A.; Dominik, M.; Tsapras, Y.; Hundertmark, M.; Wambsganss, J.; Bakowska, K.; Slowikowska, A.
    We report discovering an exoplanet from following up a microlensing event alerted by Gaia. The event Gaia22dkv is toward a disk source rather than the traditional bulge microlensing fields. Our primary analysis yields a Jovian planet with Mp=0.59-0.05+0.15MJ at a projected orbital separation r perpendicular to=1.4-0.3+0.8 au, and the host is a similar to 1.1 M circle dot turnoff star at similar to 1.3 kpc. At r 'approximate to 14 , the host is far brighter than any previously discovered microlensing planet host, opening up the opportunity to test the microlensing model with radial velocity (RV) observations. RV data can be used to measure the planet's orbital period and eccentricity, and they also enable searching for inner planets of the microlensing cold Jupiter, as expected from the "inner-outer correlation" inferred from Kepler and RV discoveries. Furthermore, we show that Gaia astrometric microlensing will not only allow precise measurements of its angular Einstein radius theta E but also directly measure the microlens parallax vector and unambiguously break a geometric light-curve degeneracy, leading to the definitive characterization of the lens system.
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    Massive open star clusters using the VVV survey. III. A young massive cluster at the far edge of the Galactic bar
    (2014) Ramírez Alegría, S.; Borissova, J.; Chené, A. N.; O'Leary, E.; Amigo, P.; Minniti, D.; Saito, R. K.; Geisler, D.; Kurtev, R.; Hempel, M.; Gromadzki, M.; Clarke, J. R. A.; Negueruela, I.; Marco, A.; Fierro, C.; Bonatto, C.; Catelan, Márcio
    Context. Young massive clusters are key to map the Milky Way's structure, and near-infrared large area sky surveys have contributed strongly to the discovery of new obscured massive stellar clusters. Aims: We present the third article in a series of papers focused on young and massive clusters discovered in the VVV survey. This article is dedicated to the physical characterization of VVV CL086, using part of its OB-stellar population. Methods: We physically characterized the cluster using JHKS near-infrared photometry from ESO public survey VVV images, using the VVV-SkZ pipeline, and near-infrared K-band spectroscopy, following the methodology presented in the first article of the series. Results: Individual distances for two observed stars indicate that the cluster is located at the far edge of the Galactic bar. These stars, which are probable cluster members from the statistically field-star decontaminated CMD, have spectral types between O9 and B0 V. According to our analysis, this young cluster (1.0 Myr < age < 5.0 Myr) is located at a distance of 11+5-6 kpc, and we estimate a lower limit for the cluster total mass of (2.8+1.6-1.4) · 103 M⊙. It is likely that the cluster contains even earlier and more massive stars. Based on observations taken within the ESO VISTA Public Survey VVV (programme ID 179.B-2002), and with ISAAC, VLT, ESO (programme 087.D-0341A).Near-IR photometry of the most probable cluster members is only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (ftp://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/564/L9...
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    Observational constraints on the optical and near-infrared emission from the neutron star-black hole binary merger candidate S190814bv
    (2020) Ackley, K.; Amati, L.; Barbieri, C.; Bauer, F. E.; Benetti, S.; Bernardini, M. G.; Bhirombhakdi, K.; Botticella, M. T.; Branchesi, M.; Brocato, E.; Bruun, S. H.; Bulla, M.; Campana, S.; Cappellaro, E.; Castro-Tirado, A. J.; Chambers, K. C.; Chaty, S.; Chen, T-W; Ciolfi, R.; Coleiro, A.; Copperwheat, C. M.; Covino, S.; Cutter, R.; D'Ammando, F.; D'Avanzo, P.; De Cesare, G.; D'Elia, V; Della Valle, M.; Denneau, L.; De Pasquale, M.; Dhillon, V. S.; Dyer, M. J.; Elias-Rosa, N.; Evans, P. A.; Eyles-Ferris, R. A. J.; Fiore, A.; Fraser, M.; Fruchter, A. S.; Fynbo, J. P. U.; Galbany, L.; Gall, C.; Galloway, D. K.; Getman, F., I; Ghirlanda, G.; Gillanders, J. H.; Gomboc, A.; Gompertz, B. P.; Gonzalez-Fernandez, C.; Gonzalez-Gaitan, S.; Grado, A.; Greco, G.; Gromadzki, M.; Groot, P. J.; Gutierrez, C. P.; Heikkila, T.; Heintz, K. E.; Hjorth, J.; Hu, Y-D; Huber, M. E.; Inserra, C.; Izzo, L.; Japelj, J.; Jerkstrand, A.; Jin, Z. P.; Jonker, P. G.; Kankare, E.; Kann, D. A.; Kennedy, M.; Kim, S.; Klose, S.; Kool, E. C.; Kotak, R.; Kuncarayakti, H.; Lamb, G. P.; Leloudas, G.; Levan, A. J.; Longo, F.; Lowe, T. B.; Lyman, J. D.; Magnier, E.; Maguire, K.; Maiorano, E.; Mandel, I; Mapelli, M.; Mattila, S.; McBrien, O. R.; Melandri, A.; Michalowski, M. J.; Milvang-Jensen, B.; Moran, S.; Nicastro, L.; Nicholl, M.; Guelbenzu, A. Nicuesa; Nuttal, L.; Oates, S. R.; O'Brien, P. T.; Onori, F.; Palazzi, E.; Patricelli, B.; Perego, A.; Torres, M. A. P.; Perley, D. A.; Pian, E.; Pignata, G.; Piranomonte, S.; Poshyachinda, S.; Possenti, A.; Pumo, M. L.; Quirola-Vasquez, J.; Ragosta, F.; Ramsay, G.; Rau, A.; Rest, A.; Reynolds, T. M.; Rosetti, S. S.; Rossi, A.; Rosswog, S.; Sabha, N. B.; Carracedo, A. Sagues; Salafia, O. S.; Salmon, L.; Salvaterra, R.; Savaglio, S.; Sbordone, L.; Schady, P.; Schipani, P.; Schultz, A. S. B.; Schweyer, T.; Smartt, S. J.; Smith, K. W.; Smith, M.; Sollerman, J.; Srivastav, S.; Stanway, E. R.; Starling, R. L. C.; Steeghs, D.; Stratta, G.; Stubbs, C. W.; Tanvir, N. R.; Testa, V; Thrane, E.; Tonry, J. L.; Turatto, M.; Ulaczyk, K.; van der Horst, A. J.; Vergani, S. D.; Walton, N. A.; Watson, D.; Wiersema, K.; Wiik, K.; Wyrzykowski, L.; Yang, S.; Yi, S-X; Young, D. R.
    Context. Gravitational wave (GW) astronomy has rapidly reached maturity, becoming a fundamental observing window for modern astrophysics. The coalescences of a few tens of black hole (BH) binaries have been detected, while the number of events possibly including a neutron star (NS) is still limited to a few. On 2019 August 14, the LIGO and Virgo interferometers detected a high-significance event labelled S190814bv. A preliminary analysis of the GW data suggests that the event was likely due to the merger of a compact binary system formed by a BH and a NS.Aims. In this paper, we present our extensive search campaign aimed at uncovering the potential optical and near infrared electromagnetic counterpart of S190814bv. We found no convincing electromagnetic counterpart in our data. We therefore use our non-detection to place limits on the properties of the putative outflows that could have been produced by the binary during and after the merger.Methods. Thanks to the three-detector observation of S190814bv, and given the characteristics of the signal, the LIGO and Virgo Collaborations delivered a relatively narrow localisation in low latency - a 50% (90%) credible area of 5 deg(2) (23 deg(2)) - despite the relatively large distance of 26752 Mpc. ElectromagNetic counterparts of GRAvitational wave sources at the VEry Large Telescope collaboration members carried out an intensive multi-epoch, multi-instrument observational campaign to identify the possible optical and near infrared counterpart of the event. In addition, the ATLAS, GOTO, GRAWITA-VST, Pan-STARRS, and VINROUGE projects also carried out a search on this event. In this paper, we describe the combined observational campaign of these groups.Results. Our observations allow us to place limits on the presence of any counterpart and discuss the implications for the kilonova (KN), which was possibly generated by this NS-BH merger, and for the strategy of future searches. The typical depth of our wide-field observations, which cover most of the projected sky localisation probability (up to 99.8%, depending on the night and filter considered), is r similar to 22 (resp. K similar to 21) in the optical (resp. near infrared). We reach deeper limits in a subset of our galaxy-targeted observations, which cover a total similar to 50% of the galaxy-mass-weighted localisation probability. Altogether, our observations allow us to exclude a KN with large ejecta mass M greater than or similar to 0.1 M-circle dot to a high (> 90%) confidence, and we can exclude much smaller masses in a sub-sample of our observations. This disfavours the tidal disruption of the neutron star during the merger.Conclusions. Despite the sensitive instruments involved in the campaign, given the distance of S190814bv, we could not reach sufficiently deep limits to constrain a KN comparable in luminosity to AT 2017gfo on a large fraction of the localisation probability. This suggests that future (likely common) events at a few hundred megaparsecs will be detected only by large facilities with both a high sensitivity and large field of view. Galaxy-targeted observations can reach the needed depth over a relevant portion of the localisation probability with a smaller investment of resources, but the number of galaxies to be targeted in order to get a fairly complete coverage is large, even in the case of a localisation as good as that of this event.
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    Panning for gold, but finding helium: Discovery of the ultra-stripped supernova SN 2019wxt from gravitational-wave follow-up observations
    (2023) Agudo, I.; Amati, L.; An, T.; Bauer, F. E.; Benetti, S.; Bernardini, M. G.; Beswick, R.; Bhirombhakdi, K.; de Boer, T.; Branchesi, M.; Brennan, S. J.; Brocato, E.; Caballero-Garcia, M. D.; Cappellaro, E.; Castro Rodriguez, N.; Castro-Tirado, A. J.; Chambers, K. C.; Chassande-Mottin, E.; Chaty, S.; Chen, T. -W.; Coleiro, A.; Covino, S.; D'Ammando, F.; D'Avanzo, P.; D'Elia, V.; Fiore, A.; Floers, A.; Fraser, M.; Frey, S.; Frohmaier, C.; Fulton, M.; Galbany, L.; Gall, C.; Gao, H.; Garcia-Rojas, J.; Ghirlanda, G.; Giarratana, S.; Gillanders, J. H.; Giroletti, M.; Gompertz, B. P.; Gromadzki, M.; Heintz, K. E.; Hjorth, J.; Hu, Y. -D.; Huber, M. E.; Inkenhaag, A.; Izzo, L.; Jin, Z. P.; Jonker, P. G.; Kann, D. A.; Kool, E. C.; Kotak, R.; Leloudas, G.; Levan, A. J.; Lin, C. -C.; Lyman, J. D.; Magnier, E. A.; Maguire, K.; Mandel, I.; Marcote, B.; Sanchez, D. Mata; Mattila, S.; Melandri, A.; Michalowski, M. J.; Moldon, J.; Nicholl, M.; Guelbenzu, A. Nicuesa; Oates, S. R.; Onori, F.; Orienti, M.; Paladino, R.; Paragi, Z.; Perez-Torres, M.; Pian, E.; Pignata, G.; Piranomonte, S.; Quirola-Vasquez, J.; Ragosta, F.; Rau, A.; Ronchini, S.; Rossi, A.; Sanchez-Ramirez, R.; Salafia, O. S.; Schulze, S.; Smartt, S. J.; Smith, K. W.; Sollerman, J.; Srivastav, S.; Starling, R. L. C.; Steeghs, D.; Stevance, H. F.; Tanvir, N. R.; Testa, V.; Torres, M. A. P.; Valeev, A.; Vergani, S. D.; Vescovi, D.; Wainscost, R.; Watson, D.; Wiersema, K.; Wyrzykowski, L.; Yang, J.; Yang, S.; Young, D. R.
    We present the results from multi-wavelength observations of a transient discovered during an intensive follow-up campaign of S191213g, a gravitational wave (GW) event reported by the LIGO-Virgo Collaboration as a possible binary neutron star merger in a low latency search. This search yielded SN 2019wxt, a young transient in a galaxy whose sky position (in the 80% GW contour) and distance (similar to SIM;150 Mpc) were plausibly compatible with the localisation uncertainty of the GW event. Initially, the transient's tightly constrained age, its relatively faint peak magnitude (M-i similar to -16.7 mag), and the r-band decline rate of similar to 1 mag per 5 days appeared suggestive of a compact binary merger. However, SN 2019wxt spectroscopically resembled a type Ib supernova, and analysis of the optical-near-infrared evolution rapidly led to the conclusion that while it could not be associated with S191213g, it nevertheless represented an extreme outcome of stellar evolution. By modelling the light curve, we estimated an ejecta mass of only similar to 0.1 M circle dot, with Ni-56 comprising similar to 20% of this. We were broadly able to reproduce its spectral evolution with a composition dominated by helium and oxygen, with trace amounts of calcium. We considered various progenitor channels that could give rise to the observed properties of SN 2019wxt and concluded that an ultra-stripped origin in a binary system is the most likely explanation. Disentangling genuine electromagnetic counterparts to GW events from transients such as SN 2019wxt soon after discovery is challenging: in a bid to characterise this level of contamination, we estimated the rate of events with a volumetric rate density comparable to that of SN 2019wxt and found that around one such event per week can occur within the typical GW localisation area of O4 alerts out to a luminosity distance of 500 Mpc, beyond which it would become fainter than the typical depth of current electromagnetic follow-up campaigns.
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    Photometric and spectroscopic evolution of the interacting transient AT 2016jbu(Gaia16cfr)
    (2022) Brennan, S. J.; Fraser, M.; Johansson, J.; Pastorello, A.; Kotak, R.; Stevance, H. F.; Chen, T-W; Eldridge, J. J.; Bose, S.; Brown, P. J.; Callis, E.; Cartier, R.; Dennefeld, M.; Dong, Subo; Duffy, P.; Elias-Rosa, N.; Hosseinzadeh, G.; Hsiao, E.; Kuncarayakti, H.; Martin-Carrillo, A.; Monard, B.; Nyholm, A.; Pignata, G.; Sand, D.; Shappee, B. J.; Smartt, S. J.; Tucker, B. E.; Wyrzykowski, L.; Abbot, H.; Benetti, S.; Bento, J.; Blondin, S.; Chen, Ping; Delgado, A.; Galbany, L.; Gromadzki, M.; Gutierrez, C. P.; Hanlon, L.; Harrison, D. L.; Hiramatsu, D.; Hodgkin, S. T.; Holoien, T. W-S; Howell, D. A.; Inserra, C.; Kankare, E.; Kozlowski, S.; Muller-Bravo, T. E.; Maguire, K.; McCully, C.; Meintjes, P.; Morrell, N.; Nicholl, M.; O'Neill, D.; Pietrukowicz, P.; Poleski, R.; Prieto, J. L.; Rau, A.; Reichart, D. E.; Schweyer, T.; Shahbandeh, M.; Skowron, J.; Sollerman, J.; Soszynski, I; Stritzinger, M. D.; Szymanski, M.; Tartaglia, L.; Udalski, A.; Ulaczyk, K.; Young, D. R.; van Leeuwen, M.; van Soelen, B.
    We present the results from a high-cadence, multiwavelength observation campaign of AT 2016jbu (aka Gaia16cfr), an interacting transient. This data set complements the current literature by adding higher cadence as well as extended coverage of the light-curve evolution and late-time spectroscopic evolution. Photometric coverage reveals that AT 2016jbu underwent significant photometric variability followed by two luminous events, the latter of which reached an absolute magnitude of M-V similar to-18.5 mag. This is similar to the transient SN 2009ip whose nature is still debated. Spectra are dominated by narrow emission lines and show a blue continuum during the peak of the second event. AT 2016jbu shows signatures of a complex, non-homogeneous circumstellar material (CSM). We see slowly evolving asymmetric hydrogen line profiles, with velocities of 500 km s(-)(1) seen in narrow emission features from a slow-moving CSM, and up to 10 000 km s(-1) seen in broad absorption from some high-velocity material. Late-time spectra (similar to+1 yr) show a lack of forbidden emission lines expected from a core-collapse supernova and are dominated by strong emission from H, He I, and Ca II. Strong asymmetric emission features, a bumpy light curve, and continually evolving spectra suggest an inhibit nebular phase. We compare the evolution of H alpha among SN 2009ip-like transients and find possible evidence for orientation angle effects. The light-curve evolution of AT 2016jbu suggests similar, but not identical, circumstellar environments to other SN 2009ip-like transients.
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    Precision measurement of a brown dwarf mass in a binary system in the microlensing event OGLE-2019-BLG-0033/MOA-2019-BLG-035
    (2022) Herald, A.; Udalski, A.; Bozza, V.; Rota, P.; Bond, I. A.; Yee, J. C.; Sajadian, S.; Mroz, P.; Poleski, R.; Skowron, J.; Szymanski, M. K.; Soszynski, I.; Pietrukowicz, P.; Kozlowski, S.; Ulaczyk, K.; Rybicki, K. A.; Iwanek, P.; Wrona, M.; Gromadzki, M.; Abe, F.; Barry, R.; Bennett, D. P.; Bhattacharya, A.; Fukui, A.; Fujii, H.; Hirao, Y.; Itow, Y.; Kirikawa, R.; Kondo, I.; Koshimoto, N.; Matsubara, Y.; Matsumoto, S.; Miyazaki, S.; Muraki, Y.; Olmschenk, G.; Ranc, C.; Okamura, A.; Rattenbury, N. J.; Satoh, Y.; Sumi, T.; Suzuki, D.; Silva, S. Ishitani; Toda, T.; Tristram, P. J.; Vandorou, A.; Yama, H.; Beichman, C. A.; Bryden, G.; Novati, S. Calchi; Carey, S.; Gaudi, B. S.; Gould, A.; Henderson, C. B.; Johnson, S.; Shvartzvald, Y.; Zhu, W.; Dominik, M.; Hundertmark, M.; Jorgensen, U. G.; Longa-Pena, P.; Skottfelt, J.; Tregloan-Reed, J.; Bach-Moller, N.; Burgdorf, M.; D'Ago, G.; Haikala, L.; Hitchcock, J.; Khalouei, E.; Peixinho, N.; Rahvar, S.; Snodgrass, C.; Southworth, J.; Spyratos, P.; Zang, W.; Yang, H.; Mao, S.; Bachelet, E.; Maoz, D.; Street, R. A.; Tsapras, Y.; Christie, G. W.; Cooper, T.; de Almeida, L.; do Nascimento, J. -D., Jr.; Green, J.; Han, C.; Hennerley, S.; Marmont, A.; McCormick, J.; Monard, L. A. G.; Natusch, T.; Pogge, R.
    Context. Brown dwarfs are transition objects between stars and planets that are still poorly understood, for which several competing mechanisms have been proposed to describe their formation. Mass measurements are generally difficult to carry out for isolated objects as well as for brown dwarfs orbiting low-mass stars, which are often too faint for a spectroscopic follow-up.
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    Progenitor, environment, and modelling of the interacting transient AT 2016jbu (Gaia16cfr)
    (2022) Brennan, S. J.; Fraser, M.; Johansson, J.; Pastorello, A.; Kotak, R.; Stevance, H. F.; Chen, T-W; Eldridge, J. J.; Bose, S.; Brown, P. J.; Callis, E.; Cartier, R.; Dennefeld, M.; Dong, Subo; Duffy, P.; Elias-Rosa, N.; Hosseinzadeh, G.; Hsiao, E.; Kuncarayakti, H.; Martin-Carrillo, A.; Monard, B.; Pignata, G.; Sand, D.; Shappee, B. J.; Smartt, S. J.; Tucker, B. E.; Wyrzykowski, L.; Abbot, H.; Benetti, S.; Bento, J.; Blondin, S.; Chen, Ping; Delgado, A.; Galbany, L.; Gromadzki, M.; Gutierrez, C. P.; Hanlon, L.; Harrison, D. L.; Hiramatsu, D.; Hodgkin, S. T.; Holoien, T. W-S; Howell, D. A.; Inserra, C.; Kankare, E.; Kozlowski, S.; Muller-Bravo, T. E.; Maguire, K.; McCully, C.; Meintjes, P.; Morrell, N.; Nicholl, M.; O'Neill, D.; Pietrukowicz, P.; Poleski, R.; Prieto, J. L.; Rau, A.; Reichart, D. E.; Schweyer, T.; Shahbandeh, M.; Skowron, J.; Sollerman, J.; Soszynski, I; Stritzinger, M. D.; Szymanski, M.; Tartaglia, L.; Udalski, A.; Ulaczyk, K.; Young, D. R.; van Leeuwen, M.; van Soelen, B.
    We present the bolometric light curve, identification and analysis of the progenitor candidate, and preliminary modelling of AT 2016jbu (Gaia16cfr). We find a progenitor consistent with a similar to 22-25 M-circle dot yellow hypergiant surrounded by a dusty circumstellar shell, in agreement with what has been previously reported. We see evidence for significant photometric variability in the progenitor, as well as strong H alpha emission consistent with pre-existing circumstellar material. The age of the environment, as well as the resolved stellar population surrounding AT 2016jbu, supports a progenitor age of >10 Myr, consistent with a progenitor mass of similar to 22 M-circle dot. A joint analysis of the velocity evolution of AT 2016jbu and the photospheric radius inferred from the bolometric light curve shows the transient is consistent with two successive outbursts/explosions. The first outburst ejected material with velocity similar to 650 km s(-1), while the second, more energetic event ejected material at similar to 4500 km s(-1). Whether the latter is the core collapse of the progenitor remains uncertain. We place a limit on the ejected Ni-56 mass of <0.016 M-circle dot. Using the Binary Population And Spectral Synthesis (BPASS) code, we explore a wide range of possible progenitor systems and find that the majority of these are in binaries, some of which are undergoing mass transfer or common-envelope evolution immediately prior to explosion. Finally, we use the SuperNova Explosion Code (SNEC) to demonstrate that the low-energy explosions within some of these binary systems, together with sufficient circumstellar material, can reproduce the overall morphology of the light curve of AT 2016jbu.
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    Proper motions and brown dwarfs in the VVV survey
    (2014) Beamín Muhlenbrock, Juan Carlos; Minniti, Dante; Gromadzki, M.; Kurtev, R.; Ivanov, V. D.; Peña Ramírez, Karla Yulien; Saito, R. K.; Borissova, J.
    We use the first three years of observations of the VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea Survey, to create a catalog of high proper motion objects, and search for nearby objects, here we describe the initial results including the discovery the first brown dwarf in the VVV survey.
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    SN 2018bsz: A Type I superluminous supernova with aspherical circumstellar material
    (2022) Pursiainen, M.; Leloudas, G.; Paraskeva, E.; Cikota, A.; Anderson, J. P.; Angus, C. R.; Brennan, S.; Bulla, M.; Camacho-Iniguez, E.; Charalampopoulos, P.; Chen, T-W; Delgado Mancheno, M.; Fraser, M.; Frohmaier, C.; Galbany, L.; Gutierrez, C. P.; Gromadzki, M.; Inserra, C.; Maund, J.; Mueller-Bravo, T. E.; Munoz Torres, S.; Nicholl, M.; Onori, F.; Patat, F.; Pessi, P. J.; Roy, R.; Spyromilio, J.; Wiseman, P.; Young, D. R.
    We present a spectroscopic analysis of the most nearby Type I superluminous supernova (SLSN-I), SN 2018bsz. The photometric evolution of SN 2018bsz has several surprising features, including an unusual pre-peak plateau and evidence for rapid formation of dust greater than or similar to 200 d post-peak. We show here that the spectroscopic and polarimetric properties of SN 2018bsz are also unique. While its spectroscopic evolution closely resembles SLSNe-I, with early O II absorption and C II P Cygni profiles followed by Ca, Mg, Fe, and other O features, a multi-component H alpha profile appearing at similar to 30 d post-maximum is the most atypical. The H alpha is at first characterised by two emission components, one at similar to+3000 km s(-1) and a second at similar to - 7500 km s(-1), with a third, near-zero-velocity component appearing after a delay. The blue and central components can be described by Gaussian profiles of intermediate width (FWHM similar to 2000-6000 km s(-1)), but the red component is significantly broader (FWHM greater than or similar to 10000 km s(-1)) and Lorentzian. The blue H alpha component evolves towards a lower-velocity offset before abruptly fading at similar to + 100 d post-maximum brightness, concurrently with a light curve break. Multi-component profiles are observed in other hydrogen lines, including Pa beta, and in lines of Ca II and He I. Spectropolarimetry obtained before (10.2 d) and after (38.4 d) the appearance of the H lines shows a large shift on the Stokes Q - U plane consistent with SN 2018bsz undergoing radical changes in its projected geometry. Assuming the supernova is almost unpolarised at 10.2 d, the continuum polarisation at 38.4 d reaches P similar to 1.8%, implying an aspherical configuration. We propose that the observed evolution of SN 2018bsz can be explained by highly aspherical, possibly disk-like, circumstellar material (CSM) with several emitting regions. After the supernova explosion, the CSM is quickly overtaken by the ejecta, but as the photosphere starts to recede, the different CSM regions re-emerge, producing the peculiar line profiles. Based on the first appearance of H alpha, we can constrain the distance of the CSM to be less than similar to 6.5 x 10(15) cm (430 AU), or even lower (less than or similar to 87 AU) if the pre-peak plateau is related to an eruption that created the CSM. The presence of CSM has been inferred previously for other SLSNe-I, both directly and indirectly. However, it is not clear whether the rare properties of SN 2018bsz can be generalised for SLSNe-I, for example in the context of pulsational pair instability, or whether they are the result of an uncommon evolutionary path, possibly involving a binary companion.
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    SN 2023emq: A Flash-ionized Ibn Supernova with Possible C iii Emission
    (2023) Pursiainen, M.; Leloudas, G.; Schulze, S.; Charalampopoulos, P.; Angus, C. R.; Anderson, J. P.; Bauer, F.; Chen, T. -w.; Galbany, L.; Gromadzki, M.; Gutierrez, C. P.; Inserra, C.; Lyman, J.; Mueller-Bravo, T. E.; Nicholl, M.; Smartt, S. J.; Tartaglia, L.; Wiseman, P.; Young, D. R.
    SN 2023emq is a fast-evolving transient initially classified as a rare Type Icn supernova (SN), interacting with a H- and He-free circumstellar medium (CSM) around maximum light. Subsequent spectroscopy revealed the unambiguous emergence of narrow He lines, confidently placing SN 2023emq in the more common Type Ibn class. Photometrically, SN 2023emq has several uncommon properties regardless of its class, including its extreme initial decay (faster than >90% of Type Ibn/Icn SNe) and sharp transition in the decline rate from 0.20 to 0.07 mag day(-1) at +20 days. The bolometric light curve can be modeled as CSM interaction with 0.32M(circle dot) of ejecta and 0.12M(circle dot) of CSM, with 0.006M(circle dot) of nickel, as expected of fast, interacting SNe. Furthermore, broadband polarimetry at +8.7 days (P = 0.55% +/- 0.30%) is consistent with spherical symmetry. A discovery of a transitional Type Icn/Ibn SN would be unprecedented and would give valuable insights into the nature of mass loss suffered by the progenitor just before death, but we favor an interpretation that SN 2023emq is a Type Ibn SN that exhibited flash-ionized features in the earliest spectrum, as the features are not an exact match with other Type Icn SNe to date. However, the feature at 5700 & Aring;, in the region of C iii and N ii emission, is significantly stronger in SN 2023emq than in the few other flash-ionized Type Ibn SNe, and if it is related to C iii, it possibly implies a continuum of properties between the two classes.
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    Spectrophotometric characterization of high proper motion sources from WISE
    (2015) Beamin, J. C.; Ivanov, V. D.; Minniti, D.; Smart, R. L.; Muzic, K.; Mendez, R. A.; Beletsky, Y.; Bayo, A.; Gromadzki, M.; Kurtev, R.
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    VVV high proper motion stars - I. The catalogue of bright K-S <= 13.5 stars
    (OXFORD UNIV PRESS, 2017) Kurtev, R.; Gromadzki, M.; Beamin, J. C.; Folkes, S. L.; Ramirez, K. Pena; Ivanov, V. D.; Borissova, J.; Villanueva, V.; Minniti, D.; Mendez, R.; Lucas, P. W.; Smith, L. C.; Pinfield, D. J.; Kuhn, M. A.; Jones, H. R. A.; Antonova, A.; Yip, A. K. P.
    Knowledge of the stellar content near the Sun is important for a broad range of topics ranging from the search for planets to the study of Milky Way (MW) structure. The most powerful method for identifying potentially nearby stars is proper motion (PM) surveys. All old optical surveys avoid, or are at least substantially incomplete, near the Galactic plane. The depth and breadth of the 'VISTA Variables in Via Lactea' (VVV) near-IR survey significantly improves this situation. Taking advantage of the VVV survey data base, we have measured PMs in the densest regions of the MW bulge and southern plane in order to complete the census of nearby objects. We have developed a custom PM pipeline based on VVV catalogues from the Cambridge Astronomy Survey Unit, by comparing the first epoch of JHKS with the multiepoch K-S bands acquired later. Taking advantage of the large time baseline between the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) and the VVV observations, we also obtained 2MASS-VVV PMs. We present a near-IR PMcatalogue for the whole area of the VVV survey, which includes 3003 moving stellar sources. All of these have been visually inspected and are real PM objects. Our catalogue is in very good agreement with the PM data supplied in IR catalogues outside the densest zone of the MW. The majority of the PM objects in our catalogue are nearby M-dwarfs, as expected. This new data base allows us to identify 57 common PM binary candidates, among which are two new systems within 30 pc of the Sun.
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    VVV IR high proper motion stars
    (UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL AUTONOMA MEXICO INSTITUTO ASTRONOMIA, 2015) Kurtev, R.; Gromadzki, M.; Beamin Muhlenbrock, Juan Carlos; Pena, K.; Folkes, S.; Ivanov, V. D.; Borissova, J.; Kuhn, M.; Villanueva, V.; Minniti, D.; Mendez, R.; Lucas, P.; Smith, L.; Pinfield, D.; Antonova, A.; Vieira, K; VanAltena, W; Mendez, RA
    We used the VISTA Variables en Via Lactea (VVV) survey to search for large proper motion (PM) objects in the zone of avoidance in the Milky Way bulge and southern Galactic disk. This survey is multi-epoch and already spans a period of more than four years, giving us an excellent opportunity for proper motion and parallax studies. We found around 1700 PM objects with PM>30 mas yr(-1). The majority of them are early and mid M-dwarfs. There are also few later spectral type objects, as well as numerous new K- and G-dwarfs. 75 of the stars have PM>300 mas(-1) and 189 stars have PM>200 mas(-1). There are only 42 previously known stars in the VVV area with proper motion PM>200 mas(-1). We also found three dM+WD binaries and new members of the immediate solar vicinity of 25 pc. We generated a catalog which will be a complementary to the existing catalogs outside this zone.
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    Weather on other worlds: BD variability and the VVV
    (Wiley, 2014) Kurtev, R.; Metchev, S.; Heinze, A.; Gromadzki, M.; Ivanov, V. D.; Minniti, D.; Beamin Muhlenbrock, Juan Carlos; Borissova, J.; Mateus, A; GregorioHetem, J; Fernandes, RC
    Various evidences point to the presence of clouds in ultra-cool atmospheres. An important ambiguity remains as to whether all variability in ultra-cool dwarfs is caused by patchy clouds, or other fenomena like magnetic activity and auroras. Simultaneous multi-wavelength photometric and/or spectroscopic monitoring could help to reveal this enigma.
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    Weather on other worlds: BD variability and the VVV
    (UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL AUTONOMA MEXICO INSTITUTO ASTRONOMIA, 2014) Kurtev, R.; Metchev, S.; Heinze, A.; Gromadzki, M.; Ivanov, V. D.; Minniti, D.; Beamin Muhlenbrock, Juan Carlos; Borissova, J.; Mateus, A; GregorioHetem, J; Fernandes, RC
    Various evidences point to the presence of clouds in ultra-cool atmospheres. An important ambiguity remains as to whether all variability in ultra-cool dwarfs is caused by patchy clouds, or other fenomena like magnetic activity and auroras. Simultaneous multi-wavelength photometric and/or spectroscopic monitoring could help to reveal this enigma.