Perry L. Berlind

Kepler-16: a transiting circumbinary planet.

An exoplanet has been observed, comparable in size and mass to Saturn, that orbits a pair of stars. We report the detection of a planet whose orbit surrounds a pair of low-mass stars. Data from the Kepler spacecraft reveal transits of the planet across both stars, in addition to the mutual eclipses of the stars, giving precise constraints on the absolute dimensions of all three bodies. The planet is comparable to Saturn in mass and size and is on a nearly circular 229-day orbit around its two parent stars. The eclipsing stars are 20 and 69% as massive as the Sun and have an eccentric 41-day orbit. The motions of all three bodies are confined to within 0.5° of a single plane, suggesting that the planet formed within a circumbinary disk.

BVRI Light Curves for 22 Type 1a Supernovae

We present 1210 Johnson/Cousins B, V, R, and I photometric observations of 22 recent Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia): SNe 1993ac, 1993ae, 1994M, 1994S, 1994T, 1994Q, 1994ae, 1995D, 1995E, 1995al, 1995ac, 1995ak, 1995bd, 1996C, 1996X, 1996Z, 1996ab, 1996ai, 1996bk, 1996bl, 1996bo, and 1996bv. Most of the photometry was obtained at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in a cooperative observing plan aimed at improving the database for SNe Ia. The redshifts of the sample range from cz = 1200 to 37,000 km s-1 with a mean of cz = 7000 km s-1.

The Updated Zwicky Catalog (UZC)

ABSTRACT The Zwicky Catalog of galaxies (ZC), with \documentclass{aastex} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{bm} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{pifont} \usepackage{stmaryrd} \usepackage{textcomp} \usepackage{portland,xspace} \usepackage{amsmath,amsxtra} \usepackage[OT2,OT1]{fontenc} \newcommand\cyr{ \renewcommand\rmdefault{wncyr} \renewcommand\sfdefault{wncyss} \renewcommand\encodingdefault{OT2} \normalfont \selectfont} \DeclareTextFontCommand{\textcyr}{\cyr} \pagestyle{empty} \DeclareMathSizes{10}{9}{7}{6} \begin{document} \landscape

The 2MASS Redshift Survey?Description and Data Release

m_{\mathrm{Zw}\,}\leq 15.5

Ubvri light curves of 44 type ia supernovae

\end{document} , has been the basis for the Center for Astrophysics (CfA) redshift surveys. To date, analyses of the ZC and redshift surveys based on it have relied on heterogeneous sets of galaxy coordinates and redshifts. Here we correct some of the inadequacies of previous catalogs by providing (1) coordinates with ≲2 \documentclass{aastex} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb...

FROM SHOCK BREAKOUT TO PEAK AND BEYOND: EXTENSIVE PANCHROMATIC OBSERVATIONS OF THE TYPE Ib SUPERNOVA 2008D ASSOCIATED WITH SWIFT X-RAY TRANSIENT 080109

We present the results of the 2MASS Redshift Survey (2MRS), a ten-year project to map the full three-dimensional distribution of galaxies in the nearby universe. The Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) was completed in 2003 and its final data products, including an extended source catalog (XSC), are available online. The 2MASS XSC contains nearly a million galaxies with K_s ≤ 13.5 mag and is essentially complete and mostly unaffected by interstellar extinction and stellar confusion down to a galactic latitude of |b| = 5° for bright galaxies. Near-infrared wavelengths are sensitive to the old stellar populations that dominate galaxy masses, making 2MASS an excellent starting point to study the distribution of matter in the nearby universe. We selected a sample of 44,599 2MASS galaxies with K_s ≤ 11.75 mag and |b| ≥ 5° (≥8° toward the Galactic bulge) as the input catalog for our survey. We obtained spectroscopic observations for 11,000 galaxies and used previously obtained velocities for the remainder of the sample to generate a redshift catalog that is 97.6% complete to well-defined limits and covers 91% of the sky. This provides an unprecedented census of galaxy (baryonic mass) concentrations within 300 Mpc. Earlier versions of our survey have been used in a number of publications that have studied the bulk motion of the Local Group, mapped the density and peculiar velocity fields out to 50 h^(–1) Mpc, detected galaxy groups, and estimated the values of several cosmological parameters. Additionally, we present morphological types for a nearly complete sub-sample of 20,860 galaxies with K_s ≤ 11.25 mag and |b| ≥ 10°.

Photometry and Spectroscopy of GRB 030329 and Its Associated Supernova 2003dh: The First Two Months

We present UBVRI photometry of 44 Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) observed from 1997 to 2001 as part of a continuing monitoring campaign at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. The data set comprises 2190 observations and is the largest homogeneously observed and reduced sample of SNe Ia to date, nearly doubling the number of well-observed, nearby SNe Ia with published multicolor CCD light curves. The large sample of U-band photometry is a unique addition, with important connections to SNe Ia observed at high redshift. The decline rate of SN Ia U-band light curves correlates well with the decline rate in other bands, as does the U - B color at maximum light. However, the U-band peak magnitudes show an increased dispersion relative to other bands even after accounting for extinction and decline rate, amounting to an additional ~40% intrinsic scatter compared to the B band.

SN 2002cx: The Most Peculiar Known Type Ia Supernova

We present extensive early photometric (ultraviolet through near-infrared) and spectroscopic (optical and near-infrared) data on supernova (SN) 2008D as well as X-ray data analysis on the associated Swift X-ray transient (XRT) 080109. Our data span a time range of 5 hr before the detection of the X-ray transient to 150days after its detection, and a detailed analysis allowed us to derive constraints on the nature of the SN and its progenitor; throughout we draw comparisons with results presented in the literature and find several key aspects that differ. We show that the X-ray spectrum of XRT 080109 can be fit equally well by an absorbed power law or a superposition of about equal parts of both power law and blackbody. Our data first established that SN 2008D is a spectroscopically normal SN Ib (i.e., showing conspicuous He lines) and showed that SN 2008D had a relatively long rise time of 18days and a modest optical peak luminosity. The early-time light curves of the SN are dominated by a cooling stellar envelope (for Δt0.1-4days, most pronounced in the blue bands) followed by 56Ni decay. We construct a reliable measurement of the bolometric output for this stripped-envelope SN, and, combined with estimates of E K and M ej from the literature, estimate the stellar radius R ⊙ of its probable Wolf-Rayet progenitor. According to the model of Waxman etal. and Chevalier & Fransson, we derive R W07⊙ = 1.2 0.7R ⊙ and R CF08⊙ = 12 7 R ⊙, respectively; the latter being more in line with typical WN stars. Spectra obtained at three and four months after maximum light show double-peaked oxygen lines that we associate with departures from spherical symmetry, as has been suggested for the inner ejecta of a number of SN Ib cores.

Spectral analysis and classification of herbig Ae/Be stars

We present extensive optical and infrared photometry of the afterglow of gamma-ray burst (GRB) 030329 and its associated supernova (SN) 2003dh over the first two months after detection (2003 March 30-May 29 UT). Optical spectroscopy from a variety of telescopes is shown and, when combined with the photometry, allows an unambiguous separation between the afterglow and SN contributions. The optical afterglow of the GRB is initially a power-law continuum but shows significant color variations during the first week that are unrelated to the presence of an SN. The early afterglow light curve also shows deviations from the typical power-law decay. An SN spectrum is first detectable ~7 days after the burst and dominates the light after ~11 days. The spectral evolution and the light curve are shown to closely resemble those of SN 1998bw, a peculiar Type Ic SN associated with GRB 980425, and the time of the SN explosion is close to the observed time of the GRB. It is now clear that at least some GRBs arise from core-collapse SNe.

X-RAY AND OPTICAL VARIABILITY IN NGC 4051 AND THE NATURE OF NARROW-LINE SEYFERT 1 GALAXIES

ABSTRACT We present photometric and spectroscopic observations of supernova (SN) 2002cx, which reveal it to be unique among all observed Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). SN 2002cx exhibits an SN 1991T–like premaximum spectrum, an SN 1991bg–like luminosity, and expansion velocities roughly half those of normal SNe Ia. Photometrically, SN 2002cx has a broad peak in the R band and a plateau phase in the I band, and slow late‐time decline. The B−V color evolution is nearly normal, but the V−R and V−I colors are very red. Early‐time spectra of SN 2002cx evolve very quickly and are dominated by lines from Fe‐group elements; features from intermediate‐mass elements (Ca, S, Si) are weak or absent. Mysterious emission lines are observed around 7000 A at about 3 weeks after maximum brightness. The nebular spectrum of SN 2002cx is also unique, consisting of narrow iron and cobalt lines. The observations of SN 2002cx are inconsistent with the observed spectral/photometric sequence and provide a major challenge to our und...