We report the discovery and constrain the physical conditions of the interstellar medium of the highest-redshift millimeter-selected dusty star-forming galaxy to date, SPT-S J031132-5823.4 (hereafter SPT0311-58), at z = 6.900 +/- 0.002. SPT0311-58 was discovered via its 1.4 mm thermal dust continuum emission in the South Pole Telescope (SPT)-SZ survey. The spectroscopic redshift was determined through an Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array 3 mm frequency scan that detected CO(6-5), CO(7-6), and [C I](2-1), and subsequently was confirmed by detections of CO(3-2) with the Australia Telescope Compact Array and[C II] with APEX. We constrain the properties of the ISM in SPT0311-58 with a radiative transfer analysis of the dust continuum photometry and the CO and [C I] line emission. This allows us to determine the gas content without ad hoc assumptions about gas mass scaling factors. SPT0311-58 is extremely massive, with an intrinsic gas mass of M-gas = 3.3 +/- 1.9 x 10(11) M-circle dot. Its large mass and intense star formation is very rare for a source well into the epoch of reionization.

We report the results of a deep search for an optical counterpart to the gravitational wave (GW) event GW150914, the first trigger from the Advanced LIGO GW detectors. We used the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) to image a 102 deg(2) area, corresponding to 38% of the initial trigger high-probability sky region and to 11% of the revised high-probability region. We observed in the i and z bands at 4-5, 7, and 24 days after the trigger. The median 5 sigma point-source limiting magnitudes of our search images are i = 22.5 and z = 21.8 mag. We processed the images through a difference-imaging pipeline using templates from pre-existing Dark Energy Survey data and publicly available DECam data. Due to missing template observations and other losses, our effective search area subtends 40 deg(2), corresponding to a 12% total probability in the initial map and 3% in the final map. In this area, we search for objects that decline significantly between days 4-5 and day 7, and are undetectable by day 24, finding none to typical magnitude limits of i = 21.5, 21.1, 20.1 for object colors (i - z) = 1, 0, - 1, respectively. Our search demonstrates the feasibility of a dedicated search program with DECam and bodes well for future research in this emerging field.

Extrasolar planets on eccentric short-period orbits provide a laboratory in which to study radiative and tidal interactions between a planet and its host star under extreme forcing conditions. Studying such systems probes how the planet's atmosphere redistributes the time-varying heat flux from its host and how the host star responds to transient tidal distortion. Here, we report the insights into the planet-star interactions in HAT-P-2's eccentric planetary system gained from the analysis of similar to 350 hr of 4.5 mu m observations with the Spitzer Space Telescope. The observations show no sign of orbit-to-orbit variability nor of orbital evolution of the eccentric planetary companion, HAT-P-2b. The extensive coverage allows us to better differentiate instrumental systematics from the transient heating of HAT-P-2b's 4.5 mu m photosphere and yields the detection of stellar pulsations with an amplitude of approximately 40 ppm. These pulsation modes correspond to exact harmonics of the planet's orbital frequency, indicative of a tidal origin. Transient tidal effects can excite pulsation modes in the envelope of a star, but, to date, such pulsations had only been detected in highly eccentric stellar binaries. Current stellar models are unable to reproduce HAT-P-2's pulsations, suggesting that our understanding of the interactions at play in this system is incomplete.

We present a recalibration of the M-BH-sigma(star) relation, based on a sample of 16 reverberation-mapped galaxies with newly determined bulge stellar velocity dispersions (sigma(star)) from integral-field spectroscopy (IFS), and a sample of 32 quiescent galaxies with publicly available IFS. For both samples, sigma(star) is determined via two different methods that are popular in the literature, and we provide fits for each sample based on both sets of sigma(star). We find the fit to the active galactic nucleus sample is shallower than the fit to the quiescent galaxy sample, and that the slopes for each sample are in agreement with previous investigations. However, the intercepts to the quiescent galaxy relations are notably higher than those found in previous studies, due to the systematically lower sigma(star) measurements that we obtain from IFS. We find that this may be driven, in part, by poorly constrained measurements of bulge effective radius (r(e)) for the quiescent galaxy sample, which may bias the sigma(star) measurements low. We use these quiescent galaxy parameterizations, as well as one from the literature, to recalculate the virial scaling factor f. We assess the potential biases in each measurement, and suggest f = 4.82 +/- 1.67 as the best currently available estimate. However, we caution that the details of how sigma(star) is measured can significantly affect f, and there is still much room for improvement.

The physical mechanisms that quench star formation, turning blue star-forming galaxies into red quiescent galaxies, remain unclear. In this Letter, we investigate the role of gas supply in suppressing star formation by studying the molecular gas content of post-starburst galaxies. Leveraging the wide area of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, we identify a sample of massive intermediate-redshift galaxies that have just ended their primary epoch of star formation. We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array CO(2-1) observations of two of these post-starburst galaxies at z similar to 0.7 with M-* similar to 2 10(11) M-circle dot. Their molecular gas reservoirs of (6.4 +/- 0.8) x 10(9) M-circle dot and (34.0 +/- 1.6) x 10(9) M-circle dot are an order of magnitude larger than comparable-mass galaxies in the local universe. Our observations suggest that quenching does not require the total removal or depletion of molecular gas, as many quenching models suggest. However, further observations are required both to determine if these apparently quiescent objects host highly obscured star formation and to investigate the intrinsic variation in the molecular gas properties of post-starburst galaxies.

OTS44 is one of only four free-floating planets known to have a disk. We have previously shown that it is the coolest and least massive known free-floating planet (similar to 12 M-Jup) with a substantial disk that is actively accreting. We have obtained Band 6 (233 GHz) ALMA continuum data of this very young disk-bearing object. The data show a clear unresolved detection of the source. We obtained disk-mass estimates via empirical correlations derived for young, higher-mass, central (substellar) objects. The range of values obtained are between 0.07 and 0.63 M-circle plus (dust masses). We compare the properties of this unique disk with those recently reported around higher-mass (brown dwarfs) young objects in order to infer constraints on its mechanism of formation. While extreme assumptions on dust temperature yield disk-mass values that could slightly diverge from the general trends found for more massive brown dwarfs, a range of sensible values provide disk masses compatible with a unique scaling relation between M-dust and M* through the substellar domain down to planetary masses.

The massive evolved star. Carinae is the most luminous star in the Milky Way and has the highest steady wind mass-loss rate of any known star. Radiative transfer models of the spectrum by Hillier et al. predict that Ha is mostly emitted in regions of the wind at radii of 6-60 au from the star (2.5-25 mas at 2.35 kpc). We present diffraction-limited images (FWHM similar to 25 mas) with Magellan adaptive optics in two epochs, showing that. Carinae consistently appears similar to 2.5-3 mas wider in Ha emission compared to the adjacent 643 nm continuum. This implies that the H alpha line-forming region may have a characteristic emitting radius of 12 mas or similar to 30 au, in very good agreement with the Hillier stellar-wind model. This provides direct confirmation that the physical wind parameters of that model are roughly correct, including the mass-loss rate of M= 10(-3)M(circle dot) yr(-1), plus the clumping factor, and the terminal velocity. Comparison of the Ha images (ellipticity and PA) to the continuum images reveals no significant asymmetries at H alpha. Hence, any asymmetry induced by a companion or by the primary's rotation do not strongly influence the global H alpha emission in the outer wind.

We present H-band scattered light imaging of a bright debris disk around the A0 star HD 36546 obtained from the Subaru Coronagraphic Extreme Adaptive Optics (SCExAO) system with data recorded by the HiCIAO camera using the vector vortex coronagraph. SCExAO traces the disk from r similar to 0."3 to r similar to 1" (34-114 au). The disk is oriented in a near east-west direction (PA similar to 75 degrees), is inclined by i similar to 70 degrees-75 degrees, and is strongly forward-scattering (g > 0.5). It is an extended disk rather than a sharp ring; a second, diffuse dust population extends from the disk's eastern side. While HD 36546 intrinsic properties are consistent with a wide age range (t similar to 1-250 Myr), its kinematics and analysis of coeval stars suggest a young age (3-10 Myr) and a possible connection to Taurus-Auriga's star formation history. SCExAO's planet-to-star contrast ratios are comparable to the first-light Gemini Planet Imager contrasts; for an age of 10 Myr, we rule out planets with masses comparable to HR 8799 b beyond a projected separation of 23 au. A massive icy planetesimal disk or an unseen super-Jovian planet at r > 20 au may explain the disk's visibility. The HD 36546 debris disk may be the youngest debris disk yet imaged, is the first newly identified object from the now-operational SCExAO extreme AO system, is ideally suited for spectroscopic follow-up with SCExAO/CHARIS in 2017, and may be a key probe of icy planet formation and planet-disk interactions.

Turbulent mixing of chemical elements by convection has fundamental effects on the evolution of stars. The standard algorithm at present, mixing-length theory (MLT), is intrinsically local, and must be supplemented by extensions with adjustable parameters. As a step toward reducing this arbitrariness, we compare asteroseismically inferred internal structures of two Kepler slowly pulsating B stars (SPBs; M similar to 3.25M circle dot.) to predictions of 321D turbulence theory, based upon well-resolved, truly turbulent three-dimensional simulations that include boundary physics absent from MLT. We find promising agreement between the steepness and shapes of the theoretically predicted composition profile outside the convective region in 3D simulations and in asteroseismically constrained composition profiles in the best 1D models of the two SPBs. The structure and motion of the boundary layer, and the generation of waves, are discussed.