No Arabic abstract
Recent work reported the discovery of a gamma-ray burst (GRB) associated with the galaxy GN-z11 at $zsim 11$. The extreme improbability of the transient source being a GRB in the very early Universe requires robust elimination of all plausible alternative hypotheses. We identify numerous examples of similar transient signals in separate archival MOSFIRE observations and argue that Solar system objects -- natural or artificial -- are a far more probable explanation for these phenomena. An appendix has been added in response to additional points raised in Jiang et al. (2021), which do not change the conclusion.
In the optical sky, minutes-duration transients from cosmological distances are rare. Known objects that give rise to such transients include gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), the most luminous explosions in the universe that have been detected at redshift as high as z ~ 9.4. These high-redshift GRBs and their associated emission can be used to probe the star formation and reionization history in the era of cosmic dawn. Here we report a near-infrared transient with an observed duration shorter than 245 s coincident with the luminous star-forming galaxy GN-z11 at z ~ 11. The telluric absorption shown in the near-infrared spectrum indicates its origin from above the atmosphere. We can rule out the possibility of known man-made objects or moving objects in the Solar system based on the observational information and our current understanding of the properties of these objects. Since some long-duration GRBs are associated with a bright ultraviolet (UV) or optical flash, we investigate the possibility that the detected signal arose from a rest-frame UV flash associated with a long GRB from GN-z11. Despite the very low probability of being a GRB, we find that the spectrum, brightness, and duration of the transient are consistent with such an interpretation. Our result may suggest that long GRBs can be produced as early as 420 million years after the Big Bang.
In Jiang et al. (2020), we reported a possible bright flash (hereafter GN-z11-flash) from a galaxy GN-z11 at z ~ 11. Recently, Steinhardt et al. (2021; arXiv:2101.12738) found 27 images with transient signals in Keck MOSFIRE archival data and claimed that GN-z11-flash was more likely from a moving object in our Solar system. We show that the Steinhardt et al.s definition of the chance probability and their methodology of finding GN-z11-flash-like transients are problematic in several aspects. In particular, none of their transients is analogous to GN-z11-flash, and none of them is positionally coincident with a known object in their imaging data. In Jiang et al., we performed a comprehensive analysis of the origin of GN-z11-flash and ruled out, to the best of our knowledge, the possibility of known man-made objects or moving objects in the Solar system, based on all available information and our current understanding of these objects. Steinhardt et al. did not use such information and did not analyse the GN-z11-flash event itself. The majority of their transients are apparently low-Earth orbit satellites or aircrafts. Therefore, their analysis can neither prove nor disprove our results. Finally, we present a method to estimate the chance probability of finding GN-z11-flash-like transients in archival data. Based on this method and the archival data used by Steinhardt et al., we obtain a loose upper limit of the probability that actually support the original results of Jiang et al. (2020).
Laporte et al. (2011) reported a very high redshift galaxy candidate: a lensed J-band dropout (A2667-J1). J1 has a photometric redshift of z=9.6-12, the probability density function for which permits no low or intermediate z solution. We here report new spectroscopic observations of this galaxy with VLT/XShooter, which show clear [OIII]5007AA, Ly-alpha, H-alpha, and H-beta emission and place the galaxy firmly at z=2.082. The oxygen lines contribute only ~25% to the H-band flux, and do not significantly affect the dropout selection of J1. After correcting the broadband fluxes for line emission, we identify two roughly equally plausible natures for A2667-J1: either it is young heavily reddened starburst, or a maximally old system with a very pronounced 4000AA break, upon which a minor secondary burst of star formation is superimposed. Fits show that to make a 3 sigma detection of this object in the B-band (V-band), imaging of depth AB=30.2 (29.5) would be required - despite the relatively bright NIR magnitude, we would need optical data of equivalent depth to the Hubble Ultra Deep Field to rule out the mid-z solution on purely photometric grounds. Assuming that this stellar population can be scaled to the NIR magnitudes of recent HST/WFC3 IR-selected galaxies, we conclude that infeasibly deep optical data AB~32 would be required for the same level of security. There is a population of galaxies at z~2 with continuum colours alone that mimic those of our z=7-12 candidates.
In the past decade, the properties of annihilating dark matter models were examined by various kinds of data, including the data of gamma rays, radio waves, X-ray, positrons, electrons, antiprotons and neutrinos. In particular, most of the studies focus on the data of our Galaxy, nearby galaxies (e.g. M31 galaxy) or nearby galaxy clusters (e.g. Fornax cluster). In this article, we examine the archival radio continuum spectral data of a relatively high-redshift galaxy cluster (A697 cluster) to constrain the properties of annihilating dark matter. We find that leptophilic annihilation channels ($e^+e^-$, $mu^+mu^-$ and $tau^+tau^-$) can give very good fits to the radio continuum spectrum of the A697 cluster.
We report the discovery of CXOU J191100-595621 and CXOU J191012-595619, two galaxy clusters serendipitously detected in the direction of globular cluster NGC 6752, based on archival {it Chandra} observations with a total exposure time of $sim 344$ ks. The deep {it Chandra} X-ray data enabled us to measure properties of both systems, which result in a redshift of $z=0.239pm0.013$ and $z=0.375pm0.016$, a temperature of $kT=3.32^{+0.57}_{-0.46}$ keV and $kT=3.71^{+1.18}_{-0.86}$ keV, an iron abundance of $Z_{rm Fe}=0.64^{+0.34}_{-0.29}Z_{rm Feodot}$ and $Z_{rm Fe}=1.29^{+0.97}_{-0.65}Z_{rm Feodot}$, and a rest-frame full band (0.5-7 keV) luminosity of $L_{rm X}=9.2^{+1.2}_{-1.1}times 10^{43} {rm , erg, s^{-1}}$ and $L_{rm X}=9.9^{+2.7}_{-2.2}times 10^{43} {rm , erg, s^{-1}}$ for CXOU J191100-595621 and CXOU J191012-595619, respectively. The temperature profile of CXOU J191100-595621 is found to decreases with decreasing radius, indicating a cool core in this cluster. The hydrostatic equilibrium estimation suggests the clusters are moderately weighted, with $M_{500}=(1.3pm0.4)times 10^{14}, M_{odot}$ and $M_{500}=(2.0pm1.5)times 10^{14}, M_{odot}$, respectively. We search for optical and radio counterparts of X-ray point sources in the clusters. Three active galactic nuclei are found, among which one is identified with a narrow-angle-tail radio galaxy, and one is found to associated with the brightest central galaxy (BCG) of CXOU J191100-595621.