We present UV, optical, and near-infrared (NIR) photometry of the first electromagnetic counterpart to a gravitational wave source from Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO)/Virgo, the binary neutron star merger GW170817. Our data set extends from the discovery of the optical counterpart at 0.47-18.5 days post-merger, and includes observations with the Dark Energy Camera (DECam), Gemini-South/ FLAMINGOS-2 (GS/F2), and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The spectral energy distribution (SED) inferred from this photometry at 0.6 days is well described by a blackbody model with T approximate to 8300 K, a radius of R approximate to 4.5 x 10(14) cm (corresponding to an expansion velocity of v approximate to 0.3c), and a bolometric luminosity of L-bol approximate to 5 x 10(41) erg s(-1). At 1.5 days we find a multi-component SED across the optical and NIR, and subsequently we observe rapid fading in the UV and blue optical bands and significant reddening of the optical/ NIR colors. Modeling the entire data set, we find that models with heating from radioactive decay of Ni-56, or those with only a single component of opacity from r-process elements, fail to capture the rapid optical decline and red optical/NIR colors. Instead, models with two components consistent with lanthanide-poor and lanthanide-rich ejecta provide a good fit to the data; the resulting "blue" component has M-ej(blue) approximate to 0.01 M-circle dot and v(ej)(blue) approximate to 0.3c, and the "red" component has M-cj(red) approximate to 0.04 M-circle dot and v(cj)(red) approximate to 0.1 c. These ejecta masses are broadly consistent with the estimated r-process production rate required to explain the Milky Way r-process abundances, providing the first evidence that binary neutron star (BNS) mergers can be a dominant site of r-process enrichment.

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.

We present spectra of five ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs) in the vicinity of the Coma cluster obtained with the Multi-object Double Spectrograph on the Large Binocular Telescope. We confirm four of these as members of the cluster, quintupling the number of spectroscopically confirmed systems. Like the previously confirmed large (projected half-light radius > 4.6 kpc) UDG, DF44, the systems we targeted all have projected half-light radii > 2.9 kpc. As such, we spectroscopically confirm a population of physically large UDGs in the Coma cluster. The remaining UDG is located in the field, about 45 Mpc behind the cluster. We observe Balmer and Ca II H and K absorption lines in all of our UDG spectra. By comparing the stacked UDG spectrum against stellar population synthesis models, we conclude that, on average, these UDGs are composed of metal-poor stars ([Fe/H] less than or similar to -1.5). We also discover the first UDG with [O II] and [O III] emission lines within a clustered environment, demonstrating that not all cluster UDGs are devoid of gas and sources of ionizing radiation.

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 IRAM/NOEMA and JVLA observations of the quasar J1342+0928 at z = 7.54 and report detections of copious amounts of dust and [C Pi] emission in the interstellar medium (ISM) of its host galaxy. At this redshift, the age of the universe is 690 Myr, about 10% younger than the redshift of the previous quasar record holder. Yet, the ISM of this new quasar host galaxy is significantly enriched by metals, as evidenced by the detection of the [C 158 mu m cooling line and the underlying far-infrared (FIR) dust continuum emission. To the first order, the FIR properties of this quasar host are similar to those found at a slightly lower redshift (z similar to 6), making this source by far the FIR-brightest galaxy known at z greater than or similar to 7.5. The [C Pi]emission is spatially unresolved, with an upper limit on the diameter of 7 kpc. Together with the measured FWHM of the [C Pi]line, this yields a dynamical mass of the host of <1.5 x 10(11) M-circle dot Using standard assumptions about the dust temperature and emissivity, the NOEMA measurements give a dust mass of (0.6-4.3) x 10(8) M-circle dot The brightness of the [C Pi] luminosity, together with the high dust mass, imply active ongoing star formation in the quasar host. Using [C Pi]-SFR scaling relations, we derive star formation rates of 85-545 M-circle dot yr(-1) in the host, consistent with the values derived from the dust continuum. Indeed, an episode of such past high star formation is needed to explain the presence of similar to 10(8) M-circle dot of dust implied by the observations.

We report the first detection of extended neutral hydrogen (H I) gas in the interstellar medium (ISM) of a massive elliptical galaxy beyond z similar to 0. The observations utilize the doubly lensed images of QSO HE 0047-1756 at z(QSO) = 1.676 as absorption-line probes of the ISM in the massive (M-star approximate to 10(11) M-circle dot) elliptical lens at z = 0.408, detecting gas at projected distances of d = 3.3 and 4.6 kpc on opposite sides of the lens. Using the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, we obtain UV absorption spectra of the lensed QSO and identify a prominent flux discontinuity and associated absorption features matching the Lyman series transitions at z = 0.408 in both sightlines. The H I column density is log N(H I)= 19.6-19.7 at both locations across the lens, comparable to what is seen in 21 cm images of nearby ellipticals. The H I gas kinematics are well-matched with the kinematics of the Fe II absorption complex revealed in ground-based echelle data, displaying a large velocity shear of approximate to 360 km s(-1) across the galaxy. We estimate an ISM Fe abundance of 0.3-0.4 solar at both locations. Including likely dust depletions increases the estimated Fe abundances to solar or supersolar, similar to those of the hot ISM and stars of nearby ellipticals. Assuming 100% covering fraction of this Fe-enriched gas, we infer a total Fe mass of M-cool(Fe) similar to (5-8) x 10(4) M-circle dot in the cool ISM of the massive elliptical lens, which is no more than 5% of the total Fe mass observed in the hot ISM.

Dynamical mass estimates down to the planet-mass regime can help to understand planet formation. We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) 1.3 mm observations of FW Tau C, a proposed similar to 10M(Jup) planet-mass companion at similar to 330 au from the host binary FW Tau AB. We spatially and spectrally resolve the accretion disk of FWTau C in (CO)-C-12 (2-1). By modeling the Keplerian rotation of gas, we derive a dynamical mass of similar to 0.1 M-circle dot. Therefore, FW Tau C is unlikely a planet, but rather a low-mass star with a highly inclined disk. This also suggests that FW Tau is a triple system consisting of three similar to 0.1. M-circle dot stars.

Planetesimals may form from the gravitational collapse of dense particle clumps initiated by the streaming instability. We use simulations of aerodynamically coupled gas-particle mixtures to investigate whether the properties of planetesimals formed in this way depend upon the sizes of the particles that participate in the instability. Based on three high-resolution simulations that span a range of dimensionless stopping times 6 X 10(-3) <= tau <= 2, no statistically significant differences in the initial planetesimal mass function are found. The mass functions are fit by a power law, dN/dM(p) proportional to M-p(-p), with p = 1.5-1.7 and errors of Delta p approximate to 0.1. Comparing the particle density fields prior to collapse, we find that the high-wavenumber power spectra are similarly indistinguishable, though the large-scale geometry of structures induced via the streaming instability is significantly different between all three cases. We interpret the results as evidence for a near-universal slope to the mass function, arising from the small-scale structure of streaming-induced turbulence.

We present a near-infrared spectral sequence of the electromagnetic counterpart to the binary neutron star merger GW170817 detected by Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO)/Virgo. Our data set comprises seven epochs of J + H spectra taken with FLAMINGOS-2 on Gemini-South between 1.5 and 10.5 days after the merger. In the initial epoch, the spectrum is dominated by a smooth blue continuum due to a high-velocity, lanthanide-poor blue kilonova component. Starting the following night, all of the subsequent spectra instead show features that are similar to those predicted in model spectra of material with a high concentration of lanthanides, including spectral peaks near 1.07 and 1.55 mu m. Our fiducial model with 0.04 M-circle dot of ejecta, an ejection velocity of v = 0.1c, and a lanthanide concentration of X-lan = 10(-2) provides a good match to the spectra taken in the first five days, although it over-predicts the late-time fluxes. We also explore models with multiple fitting components, in each case finding that a significant abundance of lanthanide elements is necessary to match the broad spectral peaks that we observe starting at 2.5 days after the merger. These data provide direct evidence that binary neutron star mergers are significant production sites of even the heaviest r-process elements.

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.