The fast blue optical transients(FBOTs)are a new population of extragalactic transients of unclear physical origin.A variety of mechanisms has been proposed including failed supernova explosion,shock interaction with ...The fast blue optical transients(FBOTs)are a new population of extragalactic transients of unclear physical origin.A variety of mechanisms has been proposed including failed supernova explosion,shock interaction with a dense medium,young magnetar,accretion onto a compact object and stellar tidal disruption event,but none is conclusive.Here we report the discovery of a possible X-ray quasi-periodicity signal with a period of~250 s(at a significance level of 99.76%)in the brightest FBOT AT2018cow through the analysis of XMM-Newton/PN data.The signal is independently detected at the same frequency in the average power density spectrum from data taken from the Swift telescope,with observations covering from 6 to 37 days after the optical discovery,though the significance level is lower(94.26%).This suggests that the quasi-periodic oscillation(QPO)frequency may be stable over at least 1.1×10^(4)cycles.Assuming the~250 s QPO to be a scaled-down analog of that typically seen in stellar mass black holes,a black hole mass of~103–10^(5)solar masses could be inferred.The overall X-ray luminosity evolution could be modeled with a stellar tidal disruption by a black hole of~10^(4)solar masses,providing a viable mechanism to produce AT2018cow.Our findings suggest that other bright FBOTs may also harbor intermediate-mass black holes.展开更多
We report the discovery of a peculiar X-ray transient,EP240408a,by Einstein Probe(EP)and follow-up studies made with EP,Swift,NICER,GROND,ATCA and other ground-based multiwavelength telescopes.The new transient was fi...We report the discovery of a peculiar X-ray transient,EP240408a,by Einstein Probe(EP)and follow-up studies made with EP,Swift,NICER,GROND,ATCA and other ground-based multiwavelength telescopes.The new transient was first detected with Wide-field X-ray Telescope(WXT)on board EP on April 8th,2024,manifested in an intense yet brief X-ray flare lasting for 12 s.The flare reached a peak flux of 3:9×10^(−9) erg cm^(−2) s^(−1) in 0.5-4 keV,∼300 times brighter than the underlying X-ray emission detected throughout the observation.Rapid and more precise follow-up observations by EP/FXT,Swift and NICER confirmed the finding of this new transient.Its X-ray spectrum is non-thermal in 0.5-10 keV,with a power-law photon index varying within 1.8-2.5.The X-ray light curve shows a plateau lasting for∼4 d,followed by a steep decay till becoming undetectable∼10 d after the initial detection.Based on its temporal property and constraints from previous EP observations,an unusual timescale in the range of 7-23 d is found for EP240408a,which is intermediate between the commonly found fast and long-term transients.No counterparts have been found in optical and near-infrared,with the earliest observation at 17 h after the initial X-ray detection,suggestive of intrinsically weak emission in these bands.We demonstrate that the remarkable properties of EP240408a are inconsistent with any of the transient types known so far,by comparison with,in particular,jetted tidal disruption events,gamma-ray bursts,X-ray binaries and fast blue optical transients.The nature of EP240408a thus remains an enigma.We suggest that EP240408a may represent a new type of transients with intermediate timescales of the order of∼10 d.The detection and follow-ups of more of such objects are essential for revealing their origin.展开更多
Galactic-scale outflows driven by active galactic nuclei(AGNs) represent a commonly invoked feedback mechanism within galaxy evolution models.However,the interactions among interstellar gas on galactic scales,the prop...Galactic-scale outflows driven by active galactic nuclei(AGNs) represent a commonly invoked feedback mechanism within galaxy evolution models.However,the interactions among interstellar gas on galactic scales,the propagation of AGN outflows,and the fundamental parameters of AGNs during their evolutionary processes remain poorly understood.Notably,powerful nuclear outflows are typically associated with the early stages of AGN activity,which are characterized by high accretion rates and weak narrow emission lines.In our analysis of a sample of quasars hosting Mg ii narrow absorption lines(NALs) obtained from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey,we identify a previously unobserved phenomenon wherein galaxy-scale inflow transitions to outflow dominance,concurrent with a notable increase in the strength of the narrow [O Ⅲ] line,achieving a confidence level of 6.7σ.This indicates that while nuclear outflows diminish,galaxy-wide outflows intensify as AGNs evolve.These findings suggest that early-stage outflows interact with the interstellar medium on a galactic scale,thereby facilitating a gradual transition to galaxy-wide outflows.This provides observational support for the hypothetical multi-stage propagation of AGN outflows that globally regulates galaxy evolution.展开更多
The Wide Field Survey Telescope(WFST) is a dedicated photometric surveying facility being built jointly by University of Science and Technology of China(USTC) and the Purple Mountain Observatory(PMO). It is equipped w...The Wide Field Survey Telescope(WFST) is a dedicated photometric surveying facility being built jointly by University of Science and Technology of China(USTC) and the Purple Mountain Observatory(PMO). It is equipped with a 2.5-meter diameter primary mirror, an active optics system, and a mosaic CCD camera with 0.73 gigapixels on the primary focal plane for highquality image capture over a 6.5-square-degree field of view. The installation of WFST near the summit of Saishiteng mountain in the Lenghu region is scheduled in summer of 2023, and the operation is planned to start three months later. WFST will scan the northern sky in four optical bands(u, g, r and i) at cadences from hourly/daily in the deep high-cadence survey(DHS) program, to semi-weekly in the wide field survey(WFS) program. During a photometric night, a nominal 30 s exposure in the WFS program will reach a depth of 22.27, 23.32, 22.84, and 22.31(AB magnitudes) in these four bands, respectively, allowing for the detection of a tremendous amount of transients in the low-z universe and a systematic investigation of the variability of Galactic and extragalactic objects. In the DHS program, intranight 90 s exposures as deep as 23(u) and 24 mag(g), in combination with target of opportunity follow-ups, will provide a unique opportunity to explore energetic transients in demand for high sensitivities, including the electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational wave events, supernovae within a few hours of their explosions,tidal disruption events and fast, luminous optical transients even beyond redshift of unity. In addition, the final 6-year co-added images, anticipated to reach g■25.8 mag in WFS or 1.5 mags deeper in DHS, will be of fundamental importance to general Galactic and extragalactic science. The highly uniform legacy surveys of WFST will serve as an indispensable complement to those of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time(LSST) that monitors the southern sky.展开更多
The Hot Universe Baryon Surveyor(HUBS) is a proposed space-based X-ray telescope for detecting X-ray emissions from the hot gas content in our universe. With its unprecedented spatially-resolved high-resolution spectr...The Hot Universe Baryon Surveyor(HUBS) is a proposed space-based X-ray telescope for detecting X-ray emissions from the hot gas content in our universe. With its unprecedented spatially-resolved high-resolution spectroscopy and large field of view,the HUBS mission will be uniquely qualified to measure the physical and chemical properties of the hot gas in the interstellar medium, the circumgalactic medium, the intergalactic medium, and the intracluster medium. These measurements will be valuable for two key scientific goals of HUBS, namely to unravel the AGN and stellar feedback physics that governs the formation and evolution of galaxies, and to probe the baryon budget and multi-phase states from galactic to cosmological scales. In addition to these two goals, the HUBS mission will also help us solve some problems in the fields of galaxy clusters, AGNs, difuse X-ray backgrounds, supernova remnants, and compact objects. This paper discusses the perspective of advancing these fields using the HUBS telescope.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC,Grant Nos.11822301,12192220,12192221 and 11833007)support from the NSFC(Grant No.12122306)+1 种基金support from the NSFC(Grant Nos.11733009 and U2031205)support by the science research grants from the China Manned Space Project through No.CMS-CSST-2021-A06。
文摘The fast blue optical transients(FBOTs)are a new population of extragalactic transients of unclear physical origin.A variety of mechanisms has been proposed including failed supernova explosion,shock interaction with a dense medium,young magnetar,accretion onto a compact object and stellar tidal disruption event,but none is conclusive.Here we report the discovery of a possible X-ray quasi-periodicity signal with a period of~250 s(at a significance level of 99.76%)in the brightest FBOT AT2018cow through the analysis of XMM-Newton/PN data.The signal is independently detected at the same frequency in the average power density spectrum from data taken from the Swift telescope,with observations covering from 6 to 37 days after the optical discovery,though the significance level is lower(94.26%).This suggests that the quasi-periodic oscillation(QPO)frequency may be stable over at least 1.1×10^(4)cycles.Assuming the~250 s QPO to be a scaled-down analog of that typically seen in stellar mass black holes,a black hole mass of~103–10^(5)solar masses could be inferred.The overall X-ray luminosity evolution could be modeled with a stellar tidal disruption by a black hole of~10^(4)solar masses,providing a viable mechanism to produce AT2018cow.Our findings suggest that other bright FBOTs may also harbor intermediate-mass black holes.
基金based on data obtained with Einstein Probe,a space mission supported by Strategic Priority Program on Space Science of Chinese Academy of Sciences,in collaboration with ESA,MPE and CNES(Grant No.XDA15310000)the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(Grant No.XDB0550200)+5 种基金the National Key R&D Program of China(Grant No.2022YFF0711500)the support by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.12333004,12321003,12103065,12373040,12021003,12025303,12393814,and 12203071)the China Manned Space Project(Grant Nos.CMS-CSST-2021-A13,and CMS-CSST-2021-B11)the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciencessupported by a Ramón y Cajal fellowship(Grant No.RYC2021-030888-I)financial support from AGAUR,CSIC,MCIN and AEI 10.13039/501100011033(Grant Nos.PID2023-151307NB-I00,PIE 20215AT016,CEX2020-001058-M,and 2021-SGR-01270)。
文摘We report the discovery of a peculiar X-ray transient,EP240408a,by Einstein Probe(EP)and follow-up studies made with EP,Swift,NICER,GROND,ATCA and other ground-based multiwavelength telescopes.The new transient was first detected with Wide-field X-ray Telescope(WXT)on board EP on April 8th,2024,manifested in an intense yet brief X-ray flare lasting for 12 s.The flare reached a peak flux of 3:9×10^(−9) erg cm^(−2) s^(−1) in 0.5-4 keV,∼300 times brighter than the underlying X-ray emission detected throughout the observation.Rapid and more precise follow-up observations by EP/FXT,Swift and NICER confirmed the finding of this new transient.Its X-ray spectrum is non-thermal in 0.5-10 keV,with a power-law photon index varying within 1.8-2.5.The X-ray light curve shows a plateau lasting for∼4 d,followed by a steep decay till becoming undetectable∼10 d after the initial detection.Based on its temporal property and constraints from previous EP observations,an unusual timescale in the range of 7-23 d is found for EP240408a,which is intermediate between the commonly found fast and long-term transients.No counterparts have been found in optical and near-infrared,with the earliest observation at 17 h after the initial X-ray detection,suggestive of intrinsically weak emission in these bands.We demonstrate that the remarkable properties of EP240408a are inconsistent with any of the transient types known so far,by comparison with,in particular,jetted tidal disruption events,gamma-ray bursts,X-ray binaries and fast blue optical transients.The nature of EP240408a thus remains an enigma.We suggest that EP240408a may represent a new type of transients with intermediate timescales of the order of∼10 d.The detection and follow-ups of more of such objects are essential for revealing their origin.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos.12222304,12192220,and 12192221)supported by the Guangxi Natural Science Foundation (Grant No.2024GXNSFDA010069)+12 种基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.12073007)the Scientific Research Project of Guangxi University for Nationalities (Grant No.2018KJQD01)the research grants from the China Manned Space Project (Grant Nos.CMSCSST-2021-A06,and CMSCSST-2021-A07)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.11421303)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No.WK3440000005)the K.C.Wong Education Foundationsupported by the National Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos.11721303,11991052,12011540375,and 12233001)the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No.2022YFF0503401)the China Manned Space Project (Grant Nos.CMS-CSST-2021-A04,and CMS-CSST-2021-A06)supported by the National Science Foundation of China (Grant No.12033006)provided by the Alfred P.Sloan Foundationthe U.S.Department of Energy Office of Science,and the Participating Institutionssupport and resources from the Center for High Performance Computing at the University of Utah。
文摘Galactic-scale outflows driven by active galactic nuclei(AGNs) represent a commonly invoked feedback mechanism within galaxy evolution models.However,the interactions among interstellar gas on galactic scales,the propagation of AGN outflows,and the fundamental parameters of AGNs during their evolutionary processes remain poorly understood.Notably,powerful nuclear outflows are typically associated with the early stages of AGN activity,which are characterized by high accretion rates and weak narrow emission lines.In our analysis of a sample of quasars hosting Mg ii narrow absorption lines(NALs) obtained from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey,we identify a previously unobserved phenomenon wherein galaxy-scale inflow transitions to outflow dominance,concurrent with a notable increase in the strength of the narrow [O Ⅲ] line,achieving a confidence level of 6.7σ.This indicates that while nuclear outflows diminish,galaxy-wide outflows intensify as AGNs evolve.These findings suggest that early-stage outflows interact with the interstellar medium on a galactic scale,thereby facilitating a gradual transition to galaxy-wide outflows.This provides observational support for the hypothetical multi-stage propagation of AGN outflows that globally regulates galaxy evolution.
基金supported by the Cyrus Chun Ying Tang Foundationsthe Major Science and Technology Project of Qinghai Province(Grant No.2019ZJ-A10)+4 种基金the 111 Project for“Observational and Theoretical Research on Dark Matter and Dark Energy”(Grant No.B23042)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.11833007,12073078,12173088,12192221,12192224,12233008,12273036,and 12273113)the Frontier Scientific Research Program of Deep Space Exploration Laboratory(Grant No.2022-QYKYJH-HXYF-012)the support from the USTC Research Funds of the Double First-Class Initiative(Grant No.YD2030002009)Project for Young Scientists in Basic Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(Grant No.YSBR-061),respectively。
文摘The Wide Field Survey Telescope(WFST) is a dedicated photometric surveying facility being built jointly by University of Science and Technology of China(USTC) and the Purple Mountain Observatory(PMO). It is equipped with a 2.5-meter diameter primary mirror, an active optics system, and a mosaic CCD camera with 0.73 gigapixels on the primary focal plane for highquality image capture over a 6.5-square-degree field of view. The installation of WFST near the summit of Saishiteng mountain in the Lenghu region is scheduled in summer of 2023, and the operation is planned to start three months later. WFST will scan the northern sky in four optical bands(u, g, r and i) at cadences from hourly/daily in the deep high-cadence survey(DHS) program, to semi-weekly in the wide field survey(WFS) program. During a photometric night, a nominal 30 s exposure in the WFS program will reach a depth of 22.27, 23.32, 22.84, and 22.31(AB magnitudes) in these four bands, respectively, allowing for the detection of a tremendous amount of transients in the low-z universe and a systematic investigation of the variability of Galactic and extragalactic objects. In the DHS program, intranight 90 s exposures as deep as 23(u) and 24 mag(g), in combination with target of opportunity follow-ups, will provide a unique opportunity to explore energetic transients in demand for high sensitivities, including the electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational wave events, supernovae within a few hours of their explosions,tidal disruption events and fast, luminous optical transients even beyond redshift of unity. In addition, the final 6-year co-added images, anticipated to reach g■25.8 mag in WFS or 1.5 mags deeper in DHS, will be of fundamental importance to general Galactic and extragalactic science. The highly uniform legacy surveys of WFST will serve as an indispensable complement to those of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time(LSST) that monitors the southern sky.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11721303, 11821303, 11825303, 11873029, 11890693, 11973033, 11991052, 12025303, 12033004, 12041301, 12121003, 12133008, 12173018, 12192220, 12192223, 12221003, 12233001, 12233005, 12273010, 12273030, 12273057, 12011540375, and U1931140)the China Manned Space Project (Grant Nos. CMS-CSST-2021-A04, CMS-CSST-2021-A06, CMS-CSST-2021-A10, and CMS-CSST-2021-B02)+5 种基金the Ministry of Science and Technology of China through its National Key R&D Program (Grant No. 2018YFA0404502)the National SKA Program of China (Grant No. 2020SKA0120300)the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2022YFA1602903)the Outstanding Young and Middle-aged Science and Technology Innovation Teams from Hubei colleges and universities (Grant No. T2021026)the Young Top-notch Talent Cultivation Program of Hubei Province, the National Science Foundation (Grant Nos. AST-2107735, and AST-2219686)NASA (Grant No. 80NSSC22K0668)。
文摘The Hot Universe Baryon Surveyor(HUBS) is a proposed space-based X-ray telescope for detecting X-ray emissions from the hot gas content in our universe. With its unprecedented spatially-resolved high-resolution spectroscopy and large field of view,the HUBS mission will be uniquely qualified to measure the physical and chemical properties of the hot gas in the interstellar medium, the circumgalactic medium, the intergalactic medium, and the intracluster medium. These measurements will be valuable for two key scientific goals of HUBS, namely to unravel the AGN and stellar feedback physics that governs the formation and evolution of galaxies, and to probe the baryon budget and multi-phase states from galactic to cosmological scales. In addition to these two goals, the HUBS mission will also help us solve some problems in the fields of galaxy clusters, AGNs, difuse X-ray backgrounds, supernova remnants, and compact objects. This paper discusses the perspective of advancing these fields using the HUBS telescope.
