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Register a new userCandidate LBV stars in galaxy NGC 7793 found via HST photometry + MUSE spectroscopy
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Only about 19 Galactic and 25 extra-galactic bona-fide Luminous Blue Variables (LBVs) are known to date. This incomplete census prevents our understanding of this crucial phase of massive star evolution which leads to the formation of heavy binary black holes via the classical channel. With large samples of LBVs one could better determine the duration and maximum stellar luminosity which characterize this phase. We search for candidate LBVs (cLBVs) in a new galaxy, NGC 7793. For this purpose, we combine high spatial resolution images from two Hubble Space Telescope (HST) programs with optical spectroscopy from the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE). By combining PSF-fitting photometry measured on F547M, F657N, and F814W images, with restrictions on point-like appearance (at HST resolution) and H{alpha} luminosity, we find 100 potential cLBVs, 36 of which fall in the MUSE fields. Five of the latter 36 sources are promising cLBVs which have M(V) less than or equal to -7 and a combination of: H{alpha} with a P-Cygni profile; no [O I] 6300 emission; weak or no [O III] 5007 emission; large [N II]/H{alpha} relative to H II regions; and [S II] 6716 / [S II] 6731 similar to 1. It is not clear if these five cLBVs are isolated from O-type stars, which would favor the binary formation scenario of LBVs. Our study, which approximately covers one fourth of the optical disc of NGC 7793, demonstrates how by combining the above HST surveys with multi-object spectroscopy from 8-m class telescopes, one can efficiently find large samples of cLBVs in nearby galaxies.
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Following the earlier discovery of classical Cepheid variables in the Sculptor Group spiral galaxy NGC 7793 from an optical wide-field imaging survey, we have performed deep near-infrared $J$- and $K$-band follow-up photometry of a subsample of these Cepheids to derive the distance to this galaxy with a higher accuracy than what was possible from optical photometry alone, by minimizing the effects of reddening and metallicity on the distance result. Combining our new near-infrared period-luminosity relations with the previous optical photometry we obtain a true distance modulus to NGC 7793 of $(27.66 pm 0.04)$ mag (statistical) $pm 0.07$ mag (systematic), i.e. a distance of $(3.40 pm 0.17)$ Mpc. We also determine the mean reddening affecting the Cepheids to be $E(B-V)=(0.08 pm 0.02)$ mag, demonstrating that there is significant dust extinction intrinsic to the galaxy in addition to the small foreground extinction. A comparison of the new, improved Cepheid distance to earlier distance determinations of NGC 7793 from the Tully-Fisher and TRGB methods yields agreement within the reported uncertainties of these previous measurements.
We present precise photometry and spectroscopy for 23 candidate spectrophotometric standard white dwarfs. The selected stars are distributed in the Northern hemisphere and around the celestial equators and are all fainter than r ~ 16.5 mag. This network of stars, when established as standards, together with the three Hubble Space Telescope primary CALSPEC white dwarfs, will provide a set of spectrophotometric standards to directly calibrate data products to better than 1%. These new faint standard white dwarfs will have enough signal-to-noise ratio in future deep photometric surveys and facilities to be measured accurately while still avoiding saturation in such surveys. They will also fall within the dynamic range of large telescopes and their instruments for the foreseeable future. This paper discusses the provenance of the observational data for our candidate standard stars. The comparison with models, reconciliation with reddening, and the consequent derivation of the full spectral energy density distributions for each of them is reserved for a subsequent paper.
We report here the discovery of NGC 7793 ULX-4, a new transient ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) in NGC 7793, a spiral galaxy already well known for harbouring several ULXs. This new source underwent an outburst in 2012, when it was detected by textit{XMM-Newton} and the textit{Swift} X-ray telescope. The outburst reached a peak luminosity of 3.4$times 10^{39}$ erg s$^{-1}$ and lasted for about 8 months, after which the source went below a luminosity of $10^{37}$ erg s$^{-1}$; previous textit{Chandra} observations constrain the low-state luminosity below $sim$ 2$times 10^{36}$ erg s$^{-1}$, implying a variability of at least a factor 1000. We propose four possible optical counterparts, found in archival HST observations of the galaxy. A pulsation in the textit{XMM-Newton} signal was found at 2.52 Hz, with a significance of $sim3.4,sigma$, and an associated spin-up of $dot{f} = 3.5times10^{-8}$ Hz.s$^{-1}$. NGC 7793 is therefore the first galaxy to host more than one pulsating ULX.
Nearly all of the well studied ancient globular clusters (GCs), in the Milky Way and in nearby galaxies, show star-to-star variations in specific elements (e.g., He, C, N, O, Na, Al), known as multiple populations (MPs). However, MPs are not restricted to ancient clusters, with massive clusters down to $sim2$ Gyr showing signs of chemical variations. This suggests that young and old clusters share the same formation mechanism but most of the work to date on younger clusters has focused on N-variations. Initial studies even suggested that younger clusters may not host spreads in other elements beyond N (e.g., Na), calling into question whether these abundance variations share the same origin as in the older GCs. In this work, we combine HST photometry with VLT/MUSE spectroscopy of a large sample of RGB stars (338) in the Large Magellanic Cloud cluster NGC 1978, the youngest globular to date with reported MPs in the form of N-spreads. By combining the spectra of individual RGB stars into N-normal and N-enhanced samples, based on the chromosome map derived from HST, we search for mean abundance variations. Based on the NaD line, we find a Na-difference of $Delta$[Na/Fe]$=0.07pm0.01$ between the populations. While this difference is smaller than typically found in ancient GCs (which may suggest a correlation with age), this result further confirms that the MP phenomenon is the same, regardless of cluster age and host galaxy. As such, these young clusters offer some of the strictest tests for theories on the origin of MPs.
Luminous Blue Variable (LBV) stars are evolved massive objects, previous to core-collapse supernova. LBVs are characterized by photometric and spectroscopic variability, produced by strong and dense winds, mass-loss events and very intense UV radiation. LBVs strongly disturb their surroundings by heating and shocking, and produce important amounts of dust. The study of the circumstellar material is therefore crucial to understand how these massive stars evolve, and also to characterize their effects onto the interstellar medium. The versatility of NIKA2 is a key in providing simultaneous observations of both the stellar continuum and the extended, circumstellar contribution. The NIKA2 frequencies (150 and 260 GHz) are in the range where thermal dust and free-free emission compete, and hence NIKA2 has the capacity to provide key information about the spatial distribution of circumstellar ionized gas, warm dust and nearby dark clouds; non-thermal emission is also possible even at these high frequencies. We show the results of the first NIKA2 survey towards five LBVs. We detected emission from four stars, three of them immersed in tenuous circumstellar material. The spectral indices show a complex distribution and allowed us to separate and characterize different components. We also found nearby dark clouds, with spectral indices typical of thermal emission from dust. Spectral indices of the detected stars are negative and hard to be explained only by free-free processes. In one of the sources, G79.29+0.46, we also found a strong correlation of the 1mm and 2mm continuum emission with respect to nested molecular shells at 0.1 pc from the LBV. The spectral index in this region clearly separates four components: the LBV star, a bubble characterized by free-free emission, and a shell interacting with a nearby infrared dark cloud.
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