Table of contents for issue 1, volume 893, The Astrophysical Journal Letters

Kepler planets around a given star have similar sizes to each other and regular orbital spacing, like “peas in a pod.” Several studies have tested whether detection bias could produce this apparent pattern by resampling planet radii at random and applying a sensitivity function analogous to that of the Kepler spacecraft. However, Zhu argues that this pattern is not astrophysical but an artifact of Kepler's discovery efficiency at the detection threshold. To support this claim, their new analysis samples the transit signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) to derive a synthetic population of bootstrapped planet radii. Here, we examine the procedure of sampling transit S/N and demonstrate it is not applicable. Sampling transit S/N does not set up random, independent planet radii, and so it is unsuitable for corroborating (or falsifying) detection bias as the origin of apparent patterns in planet radius. By sampling the planet radii directly and using a simple model for Kepler’s sensitivity, we rule out detection bias as the source of the peas-in-a-pod pattern with >10σ confidence.

A light bridge is a prominent structure commonly observed within a sunspot. Its presence usually triggers a wealth of dynamics in a sunspot and has a lasting impact on sunspot evolution. However, the fundamental structure of light bridges is still not well understood. In this study, we used the high-resolution spectropolarimetry data obtained by the Solar Optical Telescope on board the Hinode satellite to analyze the magnetic and thermal structure of a light bridge at AR 12838. We also combined the high-cadence $1700\,\mathring{\rm A}$ channel data provided by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory to study the dynamics on this bridge. We found a pair of blue and red Doppler shift patches at two ends of this bridge; this pattern appears to be the convective motion directed by the horizontal component of the magnetic field aligned with the spine of the bridge. Paired upward and downward motions imply that the light bridge could have a two-legged or undulating magnetic field. Significant 4 minute oscillations in the emission intensity of the $1700\,\mathring{\rm A}$ bandpass were detected at two ends, which overlapped the paired blue- and redshift patches. The oscillatory signals at the light bridge and the penumbra were highly correlated with each other. Although they are separated in space at the photosphere, the periodicity seems to have a common origin from underneath the sunspot. Therefore, we infer that the light bridge and penumbra could share a common magnetic source and become fragmented at the photosphere by magnetoconvection.

We continue our empirical study of the emission line flux originating in the cool (T ∼ 10⁴ K) gas that populates the halos of galaxies and their environments. Specifically, we present results obtained for a sample of galaxy pairs with a range of projected separations, $10\lt {S}_{p}/\mathrm{kpc}\lt 200$, and mass ratios <1:5, intersected by 5443 Sloan Digital Sky Survey lines of sight at projected radii of 10–50 kpc from either or both of the two galaxies. We find significant enhancement in Hα emission and a moderate enhancement in [N ii]6583 emission for low-mass pairs (mean stellar mass per galaxy, ${\overline{M}}_{* },\lt {10}^{10.4}{M}_{\odot }$) relative to the results from a control sample. This enhanced Hα emission comes almost entirely from sight lines located between the galaxies, consistent with a short-term, interaction-driven origin for the enhancement. We find no enhancement in Hα emission, but significant enhancement in [N ii]6583 emission for high-mass (${\overline{M}}_{* }\gt {10}^{10.4}{M}_{\odot }$) pairs. Furthermore, we find a dependence of the emission line properties on the galaxy pair mass ratio such that those with a mass ratio below 1:2.5 have enhanced [N ii]6583 and those with a mass ratio between 1:2.5 and 1:5 do not. In all cases, departures from the control sample are only detected for close pairs (S_p < 100 kpc). Attributing an elevated [N ii]6583/Hα ratio to shocks, we infer that shocks play a role in determining the circumgalactic medium properties for close pairs that are among the more massive and have mass ratios closer to 1:1.

We study the feasibility of detecting exotic cores in merging neutron stars with ground-based gravitational-wave detectors. We focus on models with a sharp nuclear/exotic matter interface, and assume a uniform distribution of neutron stars in the mass range [1, 2] M_⊙. We find that the existence of exotic cores can be confirmed at the 70% confidence level with as few as several tens of detections. Likewise, with such a sample, we find that some models of exotic cores can be excluded with high confidence.

We performed a multi-wavelength observation toward the LkHα 101 embedded cluster and its adjacent 85′×60′ region. The LkHα 101 embedded cluster is the first and only significant cluster in the California molecular cloud (CMC). These observations have revealed that the LkHα 101 embedded cluster is located just at the projected intersectional region of two filaments. One filament is the highest-density section of the CMC, the other is a new identified filament with a low-density gas emission. Toward the projected intersection, we find the bridging features connecting the two filaments in velocity, and identify a V-shaped gas structure. These agree with the scenario that the two filaments are colliding with each other. Using the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope, we measured the radio recombination line velocity of the LkHα 101 H ii region to be 0.5 km s⁻¹, which is related to the velocity component of the CMC filament. Moreover, there are some young stellar objects (YSOs) distributed outside the intersectional region. We suggest that the cloud–cloud collision, together with the fragmentation of the main filament, may play an important role in the YSOs’ formation of the cluster.

The detection of gravitational waves from neutron star merger events has opened up a new field of multimessenger astronomy linking gravitational-wave events to short gamma-ray bursts and kilonova afterglows. A further—yet to be discovered—electromagnetic counterpart is a precursor emission produced by the nontrivial interaction of the magnetospheres of the two neutron stars prior to merger. By performing special-relativistic force-free simulations of orbiting neutron stars we discuss the effect of different magnetic field orientations and show how the emission can be significantly enhanced by differential motion present in the binary, either due to stellar spins or misaligned stellar magnetospheres. We find that the buildup of twist in the magnetic flux tube connecting the two stars can lead to the repeated emission of powerful flares for a variety of orbital configurations. We also discuss potential coherent radio emission mechanisms in the flaring process.

Nonthermal relativistic plasmas are ubiquitous in astrophysical systems like pulsar wind nebulae and active galactic nuclei, as inferred from their emission spectra. The underlying nonthermal particle acceleration (NTPA) processes have traditionally been modeled with a Fokker–Planck (FP) diffusion-advection equation in momentum space. In this Letter, we directly test the FP framework in ab initio kinetic simulations of driven magnetized turbulence in relativistic pair plasma. By statistically analyzing the motion of tracked particles, we demonstrate the diffusive nature of NTPA and measure the FP energy diffusion (D) and advection (A) coefficients as functions of particle energy $\gamma {m}_{e}{c}^{2}$. We find that $D(\gamma )$ scales as ${\gamma }^{2}$ in the high-energy nonthermal tail, in line with second-order Fermi acceleration theory, but has a much weaker scaling at lower energies. We also find that A is not negligible and reduces NTPA by tending to pull particles toward the peak of the particle energy distribution. This study provides strong support for the FP picture of turbulent NTPA, thereby enhancing our understanding of space and astrophysical plasmas.

We search for extrasolar planets around millisecond pulsars using pulsar timing data and seek to determine the minimum detectable planetary masses as a function of orbital period. Using the 11 yr data set from the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav), we look for variations from our models of pulse arrival times due to the presence of exoplanets. No planets are detected around the millisecond pulsars in the NANOGrav 11 yr data set, but taking into consideration the noise levels of each pulsar and the sampling rate of our observations, we develop limits that show we are sensitive to planetary masses as low as that of the moon. We analyzed potential planet periods, P, in the range 7 days < P < 2000 days, with somewhat smaller ranges for some binary pulsars. The planetary-mass limit for our median-sensitivity pulsar within this period range is $1\,{M}_{\mathrm{moon}}{(P/100\mathrm{days})}^{-2/3}$.

We have obtained deep Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging of four faint and ultra-faint dwarf galaxy candidates in the vicinity of M101–Dw21, Dw22, Dw23 and Dw35, originally discovered by Bennet et al. Previous distance estimates using the surface brightness fluctuation technique have suggested that these four dwarf candidates are the only remaining viable M101 satellites identified in ground-based imaging out to the virial radius of M101 (D ≈ 250 kpc). Advanced Camera for Surveys imaging of all four dwarf candidates shows no associated resolved stellar populations, indicating that they are thus background galaxies. We confirm this by generating simulated HST color–magnitude diagrams of similar brightness dwarfs at the distance of M101. Our targets would have displayed clear, resolved red giant branches with dozens of stars if they had been associated with M101. With this information, we construct a satellite luminosity function for M101, which is 90% complete to M_V = −7.7 mag and 50% complete to M_V = −7.4 mag, that extends into the ultra-faint dwarf galaxy regime. The M101 system is remarkably poor in satellites in comparison to the Milky Way and M31, with only eight satellites down to an absolute magnitude of M_V = −7.7 mag, compared to the 14 and 26 seen in the Milky Way and M31, respectively. Further observations of Milky Way analogs are needed to understand the halo-to-halo scatter in their faint satellite systems, and connect them with expectations from cosmological simulations.

We study numerically small-scale reconnection events in kinetic, low-frequency, quasi-2D turbulence (termed kinetic-Alfvén turbulence). Using 2D particle-in-cell simulations, we demonstrate that such turbulence generates reconnection structures where the electron dynamics do not couple to the ions, similarly to the electron-only reconnection events recently detected in the Earth’s magnetosheath by Phan et al. Electron-only reconnection is thus an inherent property of kinetic-Alfvén turbulence, where the electron current sheets have limited anisotropy and, as a result, their sizes are smaller than the ion inertial scale. The reconnection rate of such electron-only events is found to be close to 0.1.

How magnetic reconnection drives Mercury’s magnetospheric dynamics under extreme solar wind conditions is not well understood. Here we report MESSENGER observations of an active reconnection event in Mercury’s magnetotail driven by an interplanetary coronal mass ejection on 2011 November 23. The primary Hall magnetic field, sequential passage of X-lines with Hall field perturbations, and flux ropes (FRs) provide unambiguous evidence of multiple X-line reconnection in an unstable ion diffusion region. In addition, large FRs consisting of multiple successive small-scale FRs are ejected tailward at quasi-periodic intervals of ∼1 minute, which is comparable to the Dungey cycle time. We propose that these large FRs are generated by the interaction and coalescence of multiple ion-scale FRs. This is distinct from the commonly accepted Earth-like substorm process where plasmoids are created by widely separated X-lines in the magnetotail. These observations suggest that during extreme solar wind conditions multiple X-line reconnection may dominate the tail reconnection process and control the global dynamics of Mercury’s magnetosphere.

2I/Borisov is the first interstellar comet discovered on 2019 August 30, and it soon showed a coma and a dust tail. This study reports the results of images obtained at the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo telescope, on La Palma—Canary Islands, in 2019 November and December. The images have been obtained with the R filter in order to apply our dust tail model. The model has been applied to the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko and compared to the Rosetta dust measurements showing a very good agreement. It has been applied to the comet 2I/Borisov, using almost the same parameters, obtaining a dust environment similar to that of 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, suggesting that the activity may be very similar. The dust tail analysis provided a dust-loss rate Q_d ≈ 35 kg s⁻¹ in 2019 November and Q_d ≈ 30 kg s⁻¹ in 2019 December.

White-light flares (WLFs), first observed in 1859, refer to a type of solar flare showing an obvious enhancement of the visible continuum emission. This type of enhancement often occurs in most energetic flares, and is usually interpreted as a consequence of efficient heating in the lower solar atmosphere through nonthermal electrons propagating downward from the energy release site in the corona. However, this coronal-reconnection model has difficulty in explaining the recently discovered small WLFs. Here we report a C2.3 WLF, which is associated with several observational phenomena: a fast decrease in opposite-polarity photospheric magnetic fluxes, the disappearance of two adjacent pores, significant heating of the lower chromosphere, a negligible increase of the hard X-ray flux, and an associated U-shaped magnetic field configuration. All these suggest that this WLF is powered by magnetic reconnection in the lower part of the solar atmosphere rather than by reconnection higher up in the corona.

Although the physical origin of prompt emission in gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) remains inconclusive, previous studies have considered the synchrotron radiation of relativistic electrons as a promising mechanism. These works usually adopted an invariable injection rate of electrons (Q) which may be discordant with that in a Poynting-flux-dominated jet. In a Poynting-flux-dominated jet (e.g., internal-collision-induced magnetic reconnection and turbulence model), the number of magnetic reconnections occurring simultaneously may grow rapidly with time and result in an increase of Q with time. This paper is dedicated to studying the synchrotron radiation spectrum in this scenario. It is found that the radiation spectrum would obviously get harder if an increasing Q is adopted and a Band-like radiation spectrum can be obtained if the increase of Q is fast enough. The latter is related to the fact that a bump shape rather than a power-law spectrum appears in the low-energy regime of the obtained electron spectrum. This effect can strongly harden the low-energy radiation spectrum. It indicates that an increasing Q can help to alleviate the “fast-cooling problem” of synchrotron radiation for GRBs. Our studies also reveal that a Poynting-flux dominated jet with a large emission radius, a short magnetic reconnection region length, or an injected electron with low minimum energy would prefer to form a Band-like radiation spectrum. We suggest that the Band spectrum found in GRBs may be the synchrotron emission of the electrons with a bump-shape distribution in its low-energy regime.

In the ΛCDM scenario, small galaxies merge to produce larger entities. Since supermassive black holes (SMBHs) are found in galaxies of all sizes, SMBH binaries (SMBHBs) are generally expected to form during the amalgamation of galaxies. It is unclear what fraction of these binaries could eventually merge, but a general consensus is that initially the orbital decay is mediated by the surrounding gas and stars. In this Letter, we show that in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) the radiation field also causes the orbits of the accreting SMBHs to shrink. The corresponding mechanism, known as the “Poynting–Robertson drag” (PR drag), takes effect on a well-defined timescale CT_Sal, where T_Sal is the Salpeter timescale of the AGN, presumably coinciding with the primary SMBH, and $C=4{\xi }^{-1}{\epsilon }^{-1}{q}^{1/3}{(1+q)}^{2/3}(1-\epsilon )$ is a constant determined by the radiative efficiency , the mass ratio q of the two black holes, and a parameter ξ characterizing the size of the circumsecondary accretion disk. We find that when q ≲ a few × 10⁻⁵, the PR drag is more efficient in shrinking the binary than many other mechanisms, such as dynamical friction and type-I migration. Our finding points to a possible new channel for the coalescence of unequal SMBHBs and the clearing of intermediate-massive black holes in AGNs.

A recent examination of K2 lightcurves indicates that ∼15% of Jupiter Trojans have very slow rotation (spin periods P_s > 100 hr). Here we consider the possibility that these bodies formed as equal-size binaries in the massive outer disk at ∼20–30 au. Prior to their implantation as Jupiter Trojans, tight binaries tidally evolved toward a synchronous state with P_s ∼ P_b, where P_b is the binary orbit period. They may have been subsequently dissociated by impacts and planetary encounters with at least one binary component retaining its slow rotation. Surviving binaries on Trojan orbits would continue to evolve by tides and spin-changing impacts over 4.5 Gyr. To explain the observed fraction of slow rotators, we find that at least ∼15%–20% of outer disk bodies with diameters 15 < D < 50 km would have to form as equal-size binaries with 12 ≲ a_b/R ≲ 30, where a_b is the binary semimajor axis and R = D/2. The mechanism proposed here could also explain very slow rotators found in other small-body populations.

We report a quasi-periodic pulsation (QPP) event simultaneously detected from the spatial displacements of the coronal loop at both EUV images and microwave emission during the preflare phase of a C1.1 flare on 2016 March 23. Using the motion magnification technique, a low-amplitude transverse oscillation with the growing period is discovered in a diffuse coronal loop in Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) image sequences at wavelength of 171 Å, and the initial oscillation period is estimated to be ∼397 s with a slow growth rate of 0.045. At the same time, a QPP with growing periods from roughly 300 s to nearly 500 s is discovered in the microwave flux in the same active region. Based on the imaging observations measured at EUV wavelengths by the AIA and at microwave 17 GHz by Nobeyama Radioheliograph, the diffuse coronal loop and the microwave radiation source are found to be connected through a hot loop seen in AIA images at wavelength of 94 Å. The growing period of the QPP should be related to the modulation of LRC-circuit oscillating process in a current-carrying plasma loop. The existence of electric currents may imply the non-potentialities in the source region during the preflare phase.

Flux transfer events (FTEs) are magnetic flux ropes that are produced via magnetic reconnection at the planetary magnetopause where the solar wind directly interacts with the magnetosphere. Previous observations show that FTEs with a duration of several seconds, corresponding to a spatial scale of ∼0.5–1 R_M, can occur at Mercury. However, the formation of these macroscale FTEs at a small dimensional magnetopause with a radius of ∼1.5 R_M remains unclear. Here, we report the observations of active magnetic reconnection events at Mercury’s magnetopause by the MESSENGER spacecraft. The reconnection process is dominated by the formation of a series of multi-scale FTEs. Ion-scale flux ropes, typically with durations of ∼1 s or less, may be produced by the tearing instability in the thin current sheet near the subsolar position. Moreover, the commonly observed macroscale FTEs consist of three to tens of successive small-scale FTEs. We propose that macroscale FTEs at Mercury are generated by the interaction and merging of multiple ion-scale flux ropes, probably through two or more steps. This is distinct from the formation of typical FTEs, mainly between a pair of X-lines, at Earth’s magnetopause. Thus, the formation and evolution of FTEs may differ among planetary magnetospheres with a vast range of scale sizes. We further conclude that Mercury’s magnetopause is a natural plasma laboratory to study flux rope dynamics and evolution for the upcoming Bepi-Colombo mission.

We present the discovery of an optical accretion disk wind in the X-ray transient Swift J1858.6-0814. Our 90-spectrum data set, taken with the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias telescope over eight different epochs and across five months, reveals the presence of conspicuous P-Cyg profiles in He i at 5876 Å and Hα. These features are detected throughout the entire campaign, albeit their intensity and main observational properties are observed to vary on timescales as short as 5 minutes. In particular, we observe significant variations in the wind velocity, between a few hundreds and ∼2400 $\mathrm{km}\,{{\rm{s}}}^{-1}$. In agreement with previous reports, our observations are characterized by the presence of frequent flares, although the relation between the continuum flux variability and the presence/absence of wind features is not evident. The reported high activity of the system at radio waves indicates that the optical wind of Swift J1858.6-0814 is contemporaneous with the radio jet, as is the case for the handful of X-ray binary transients that have shown so far optical P-Cyg profiles. Finally, we compare our results with those of other sources showing optical accretion disk winds, with emphasis on V404 Cyg and V4641 Sgr, since they also display strong and variable optical wind features as well as similar flaring behavior.

The origin of high-energy emission in blazars jets (i.e., leptonic versus hadronic) has been a longstanding matter of debate. Here, we focus on one variant of hadronic models where proton synchrotron radiation accounts for the observed steady γ-ray blazar emission. Using analytical methods, we derive the minimum jet power (${P}_{j,\min }$) for the largest blazar sample analyzed to date (145 sources), taking into account uncertainties of observables and jet’s physical parameters. We compare ${P}_{j,\min }$ against three characteristic energy estimators for accreting systems, i.e., the Eddington luminosity, the accretion disk luminosity, and the power of the Blandford–Znajek process, and find that ${P}_{j,\min }$ is about 2 orders of magnitude higher than all energetic estimators for the majority of our sample. The derived magnetic field strengths in the emission region require either large amplification of the jet’s magnetic field (factor of 30) or place the γ-ray production site at sub-pc scales. The expected neutrino emission peaks at ∼0.1–10 EeV, with typical peak neutrino fluxes ∼10⁻⁴ times lower than the peak γ-ray fluxes. We conclude that if relativistic hadrons are present in blazar jets, they can only produce a radiatively subdominant component of the overall spectral energy distribution of the blazar’s steady emission.

The Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer collaboration recently published a joint estimate of the mass and the radius of PSR J0030+0451, derived via X-ray pulse-profile modeling. Raaijmakers et al. explored the implications of this measurement for the dense matter equation of state (EOS) using two parameterizations of the high-density EOS: a piecewise-polytropic model, and a model based on the speed of sound in neutron stars (NSs). In this work we obtain further constraints on the EOS following this approach, but we also include information about the tidal deformability of NSs from the gravitational wave signal of the compact binary merger GW170817. We compare the constraints on the EOS to those set by the recent measurement of a 2.14 M_⊙ pulsar, included as a likelihood function approximated by a Gaussian, and find a small increase in information gain. To show the flexibility of our method, we also explore the possibility that GW170817 was a NS–black hole merger, which yields weaker constraints on the EOS.

We study the angular momentum transport inside hot Jupiters under the influence of gravitational and thermal forcing. Due to the strong stellar irradiation, a radiative region develops on top of the convective region. Internal gravity waves are launched at the radiative–convective boundaries (RCBs). The thermal response is dynamical and plays an important role in the angular momentum transport. By separating the gravitational and thermal forcing terms, we identify the thermal effects of increasing the angular momentum transport. For the low-frequency (in the corotating frame with planets) prograde (retrograde) tidal frequency, the angular momentum flux is positive (negative). The tidal interactions tend to drive the planet to the synchronous state. We find that the angular momentum transport associated with the internal gravity wave is very sensitive to relative position between the RCB and the penetration depth of the thermal forcing. If the RCB is in the vicinity of the thermal forcing penetration depth, even with small amplitude thermal forcing, the thermally driven angular momentum flux could be much larger than the flux induced by gravitational forcing. The thermally enhanced torque could drive the planet to the synchronous state in as short as a few 10⁴ yr.

In 2019 October Betelgeuse began a decline in V-band brightness that went beyond the minimum expected from its quasi-periodic ∼420 day cycle, becoming the faintest in recorded photometric history. Observations obtained in 2019 December with Very Large Telescope/SPHERE have shown that the southern half of the star has become markedly fainter than in 2019 January, indicating that a major change has occurred in, or near, the photosphere. We present Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) Echelon Cross Echelle Spectrograph (EXES) high spectral-resolution observations of [Fe ii] $25.99\,\mu {\rm{m}}$  and [S i] $25.25\,\mu {\rm{m}}$  emission lines from Betelgeuse obtained during the unprecedented 2020 February V-band brightness minimum to investigate potential changes in the circumstellar flow. These spectra are compared to observations obtained in 2015 and 2017 when the V magnitude was typical of brighter phases. We find only very small changes in the gas velocities reflected by either of the line profiles, no significant changes in the flux to continuum ratios, and hence no significant changes in the [Fe ii]/[S i] flux ratios. There is evidence that absorption features have appeared in the 2020 continuum. The Alfvén wave-crossing time from the upper photosphere is sufficiently long that one would not expect a change in the large-scale magnetic field to reach the circumstellar [Fe ii] and [S i] line-forming regions, 3 < R (R_*) < 20. However, the light-crossing time is of order a few hours and a reduction in luminosity may reduce the dust-gas heating rate and [O i] $63.19\,\mu {\rm{m}}$  emission, which has contributions from R > 20R_*, where significant circumstellar oxygen-rich dust is observed.

We simulate stacked observations of nearby hot X-ray coronae associated with galaxies in the EAGLE and Illustris-TNG hydrodynamic simulations. A forward modeling pipeline is developed to predict 4 yr eROSITA observations and stacked image analysis, including the effects of instrumental and astrophysical backgrounds. We propose an experiment to stack z ≈ 0.01 galaxies separated by specific star formation rate (sSFR) to examine how the hot (T ≥ 10⁶ K) circumgalactic medium (CGM) differs for high- and low-sSFR galaxies. The simulations indicate that the hot CGM of low-mass (${M}_{* }\approx {10}^{10.5}\ {M}_{\odot }$), high-sSFR (defined as the top one-third ranked by sSFR) central galaxies will be detectable to a galactocentric radius r ≈ 30–50 kpc. Both simulations predict lower luminosities at fixed stellar mass for the low-sSFR galaxies (the lower third of sSFR) with Illustris-TNG predicting 3× brighter coronae around high-sSFR galaxies than EAGLE. Both simulations predict detectable emission out to r ≈ 150–200 kpc for stacks centered on high-mass (${M}_{* }\approx {10}^{11.0}\ {M}_{\odot }$) galaxies, with EAGLE predicting brighter X-ray halos. The extended soft X-ray luminosity correlates strongly and positively with the mass of circumgalactic gas within the virial radius (f_CGM). Prior analyses of both simulations have established that f_CGM is reduced by expulsive feedback driven mainly by black hole growth, which quenches galaxy growth by inhibiting replenishment of the interstellar medium. Both simulations predict that eROSITA stacks should not only conclusively detect and resolve the hot CGM around L* galaxies for the first time, but provide a powerful probe of how the baryon cycle operates, for which there remains an absence of consensus between state-of-the-art simulations.

Using in situ data, accumulated in the turbulent magnetosheath by the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission, we report a statistical study of magnetic field curvature and discuss its role in the turbulent space plasmas. Consistent with previous simulation results, the probability distribution function of the curvature is shown to have distinct power-law tails for both high and low value limits. We find that the magnetic-field-line curvature is intermittently distributed in space. High curvature values reside near weak magnetic-field regions, while low curvature values are correlated with small magnitude of the force acting normal to the field lines. A simple statistical treatment provides an explanation for the observed curvature distribution. This novel statistical characterization of magnetic curvature in space plasma provides a starting point for assessing, in a turbulence context, the applicability and impact of particle energization processes, such as curvature drift, that rely on this fundamental quantity.

We show that the periodic FRB 180916.J0158+65 can be interpreted by invoking an interacting neutron star binary system with an orbital period of ∼16 days. The FRBs are produced by a highly magnetized pulsar, whose magnetic field is “combed” by the strong wind from a companion star, either a massive star or a millisecond pulsar. The FRB pulsar wind retains a clear funnel in the companion’s wind that is otherwise opaque to induced Compton or Raman scatterings for repeating FRB emission. The 4 day active window corresponds to the time when the funnel points toward Earth. The interaction also perturbs the magnetosphere of the FRB pulsar and may trigger emission of FRBs. We derive the physical constraints on the comb and the FRB pulsar from the observations and estimate the event rate of FRBs. In this scenario, a lower limit on the period of observable FRBs is predicted. We speculate that both the intrinsic factors (strong magnetic field and young age) and the extrinsic factor (interaction) may be needed to generate FRBs in neutron star binary systems.

We report the discovery of an Earth-sized planet in the habitable zone of a low-mass star called Kepler-1649. The planet, Kepler-1649 c, is 1.06${}_{-0.10}^{+0.15}$ times the size of Earth and transits its 0.1977 ± 0.0051 ${M}_{\odot }$ “mid” M-dwarf host star every 19.5 days. It receives 74% ± 3% the incident flux of Earth, giving it an equilibrium temperature of 234 ± 20 K and placing it firmly inside the circumstellar habitable zone. Kepler-1649 also hosts a previously known inner planet that orbits every 8.7 days and is roughly equivalent to Venus in size and incident flux. Kepler-1649 c was originally classified as a false positive (FP) by the Kepler pipeline, but was rescued as part of a systematic visual inspection of all automatically dispositioned Kepler FPs. This discovery highlights the value of human inspection of planet candidates even as automated techniques improve, and hints that terrestrial planets around mid to late M-dwarfs may be more common than those around more massive stars.