We present the calibration and reduction of Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) 1.3 mm radio wavelength observations of the supermassive black hole candidate at the center of the radio galaxy M87 and the quasar 3C 279, taken during the 2017 April 5-11 observing campaign. These global very long baseline interferometric observations include for the first time the highly sensitive Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA); reaching an angular resolution of 25 mu as, with characteristic sensitivity limits of similar to 1 mJy on baselines to ALMA and similar to 10 mJy on other baselines. The observations present challenges for existing data processing tools, arising from the rapid atmospheric phase fluctuations, wide recording bandwidth, and highly heterogeneous array. In response, we developed three independent pipelines for phase calibration and fringe detection, each tailored to the specific needs of the EHT. The final data products include calibrated total intensity amplitude and phase information. They are validated through a series of quality assurance tests that show consistency across pipelines and set limits on baseline systematic errors of 2% in amplitude and 1 degrees in phase. The M87 data reveal the presence of two nulls in correlated flux density at similar to 3.4 and similar to 8.3 G lambda and temporal evolution in closure quantities, indicating intrinsic variability of compact structure on a. timescale of days, or several light-crossing times for a. few billion solar-mass black hole. These measurements provide the first opportunity to image horizon-scale structure in M87.

Gravitational waves from the coalescence of two neutron stars were recently detected for the first time by the LIGO-Virgo Collaboration, in event GW170817. This detection placed an upper limit on the effective tidal deformability of the two neutron stars and tightly constrained the chirp mass of the system. We report here on a new simplification that arises in the effective tidal deformability of the binary, when the chirp mass is specified. We find that, in this case, the effective tidal deformability of the binary is surprisingly independent of the component masses of the individual neutron stars, and instead depends primarily on the ratio of the chirp mass to the neutron star radius. Thus, a measurement of the effective tidal deformability can be used to directly measure the neutron star radius. We find that the upper limit on the effective tidal deformability from GW170817 implies that the radius cannot be larger than similar to 13. km, at the 90% level, independent of the assumed masses for the component stars. The result can be applied generally, to probe the stellar radii in any neutron star-neutron star merger with a measured chirp mass. The approximate mass independence disappears for neutron star- black hole mergers. Finally, we discuss a Bayesian inference of the equation of state that uses the measured chirp mass and tidal deformability from GW170817 combined with nuclear and astrophysical priors and discuss possible statistical biases in this inference.

We use Gaia Data Release 2 proper motions of field OB stars from the Runaways and Isolated O-Type Star Spectroscopic Survey of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) to study the kinematics of runaway stars. The data reveal that the SMC Wing has a systemic peculiar motion relative to the SMC Bar of (v(alpha), v(delta)) = (62 +/- 7, -18 +/- 5) km s(-1) and relative radial velocity +4.5 +/- 5.0 km s(-1). This unambiguously demonstrates that these two regions are kinematically distinct: the Wing is moving away from the Bar, and towards the Large Magellanic Cloud with a 3D velocity of 64 +/- 10 km s(-1). This is consistent with models for a recent, direct collision between the Clouds. We present transverse velocity distributions for our field OB stars, confirming that unbound runaways comprise on the order of half our sample, possibly more. Using eclipsing binaries and double-lined spectroscopic binaries as tracers of dynamically ejected runaways, and high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) as tracers of runaways accelerated by supernova kicks, we find significant contributions from both populations. The data suggest that HMXBs have lower velocity dispersion relative to dynamically ejected binaries, consistent with the former group corresponding to less energetic supernova kicks that failed to unbind the components. Evidence suggests that our fast runaways are dominated by dynamical, rather than supernova, ejections.

We find significantly different diagnostic emission line ratios for the circumgalactic gas associated with galaxies of stellar masses above and below 10(10.4)M(circle dot) using Sloan Digital Sky Survey spectroscopy. Specifically, in a sample of 17,393 galaxies, intersected by 18,535 lines of sight at projected radii between 10 and 50 kpc, we stack measured fluxes for nebular strong emission lines, [O III] lambda 5007, H alpha, and [N II] lambda 6583, and find that the gas surrounding the lower-mass galaxies exhibits similar line ratios to those of gas ionized by star formation and that surrounding the higher-mass galaxies similar to those of gas ionized by active galactic nucleus or shocks. This finding highlights yet another characteristic of galaxies that is distinctly different above and below this stellar mass threshold, but one that is more closely connected to the gas accretion behavior hypothesized to be responsible for this dichotomy.

We examine Alfven Wave Solar atmosphere Model (AWSoM) predictions of the first Parker Solar Probe (PSP) encounter. We focus on the 12 day closest approach centered on the first perihelion. AWSoM allows us to interpret the PSP data in the context of coronal heating via Alfven wave turbulence. The coronal heating and acceleration is addressed via outward-propagating low-frequency Alfven waves that are partially reflected by Alfven speed gradients. The nonlinear interaction of these counter-propagating waves results in a turbulent energy cascade. To apportion the wave dissipation to the electron and anisotropic proton temperatures, we employ the results of the theories of linear wave damping and nonlinear stochastic heating as described by Chandran et al. We find that during the first encounter, PSP was in close proximity to the heliospheric current sheet (HCS) and in the slow wind. PSP crossed the HCS two times, at 2018 November 3 UT 01:02 and 2018 November 8 UT 19:09, with perihelion occurring on the south of side of the HCS. We predict the plasma state along the PSP trajectory, which shows a dominant proton parallel temperature causing the plasma to be firehose unstable.

Two studies utilizing sparse aperture-masking (SAM) interferometry and H-alpha differential imaging have reported multiple Jovian companions around the young solar-mass star, LkCa 15 (LkCa 15 bcd): the first claimed direct detection of infant, newly formed planets ("protoplanets"). We present new near-infrared direct imaging/spectroscopy from the Subaru Coronagraphic Extreme Adaptive Optics (SCExAO) system coupled with Coronagraphic High Angular Resolution Imaging Spectrograph (CHARIS) integral field spectrograph and multi-epoch thermal infrared imaging from Keck/NIRC2 of LkCa 15 at high Strehl ratios. These data provide the first direct imaging look at the same wavelengths and in the same locations where previous studies identified the LkCa 15 protoplanets, and thus offer the first decisive test of their existence. The data do not reveal these planets. Instead, we resolve extended emission tracing a dust disk with a brightness and location comparable to that claimed for LkCa 15 bcd. Forward-models attributing this signal to orbiting planets are inconsistent with the combined SCExAO/CHARIS and Keck/NIRC2 data. An inner disk provides a more compelling explanation for the SAM detections and perhaps also the claimed H-alpha detection of LkCa 15 b. We conclude that there is currently no clear, direct evidence for multiple protoplanets orbiting LkCa 15, although the system likely contains at least one unseen Jovian companion. To identify Jovian companions around LkCa 15 from future observations, the inner disk should be detected and its effect modeled, removed, and shown to be distinguishable from planets. Protoplanet candidates identified from similar systems should likewise be clearly distinguished from disk emission through modeling.

We report the discovery of two ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs) that show clear evidence of an association with tidal material and an interaction with a larger galaxy halo, found during a search of the Wide portion of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey. The two new UDGs, NGC 2708-Dw1 and NGC 5631-Dw1, are faint (M-g = -13.7 and -11.8 mag), extended (r(h) = 2.60 and 2.15 kpc), and have low central surface brightness (mu(g, 0) = 24.9 and 27.3 mag arcsec(-2)), while the stellar stream associated with each has a surface brightness mu(g) greater than or similar to 28.2 mag arcsec(-2). These observations provide evidence that the origin of some UDGs may connect to galaxy interactions, either by transforming normal dwarf galaxies by expanding them, or because UDGs can collapse out of tidal material (i.e., they are tidal dwarf galaxies). Further work is needed to understand the fraction of the UDG population "formed" through galaxy interactions, and wide field searches for diffuse dwarf galaxies will provide further clues to the origin of these enigmatic stellar systems.

PDS 70b is a recently discovered and directly imaged exoplanet within the wide (greater than or similar to 40 au) cavity around PDS 70. Ongoing accretion onto the central star suggests that accretion onto PDS 70b may also be ongoing. We present the first high-contrast images at H alpha (656 nm) and nearby continuum (643 nm) of PDS 70 utilizing the MagAO system. The combination of these filters allows for the accretion rate of the young planet to be inferred, as hot infalling hydrogen gas will emit strongly at H alpha over the optical continuum. We detected a source in H alpha at the position of PDS 70b on two sequential nights in 2018 May, for which we establish a false positive probability of <0.1%. We conclude that PDS 70b is a young, actively accreting planet. We utilize the H alpha line luminosity to derive a mass accretion rate of (M) over dot = 10(-8 +/- 1) M-Jup yr(-1), where the large uncertainty is primarily due to the unknown amount of optical extinction from the circumstellar and circumplanetary disks. PDS 70b represents the second case of an accreting planet interior to a disk gap, and is among the early examples of a planet observed during its formation.

We survey the highly ionized circumgalactic media (CGM) of 29 blindly selected galaxies at 0.49 < z(gal) < 1.44 based on high signal-to-noise ratio ultraviolet spectra of z greater than or similar to 1 quasi-stellar objects and the galaxy database from the COS Absorption Survey of Baryon Harbors (CASBaH). We detect the Ne VIII doublet in nine of the galaxies, and for gas with N(Ne VIII) > 10(13.3) cm(-2) (>10(13.5) cm(-2)), we derive a Ne VIII covering fraction f(c) = 75(-25)(+15)% (44(-20)(+22)%) within impact parameters rho <= 200 kpc of M-* =10(9.)(5-11.5)M(circle dot) galaxies and f(c) = 70(-22)(+16)% (f(c) = 42 (+20)(-17)%) within rho <= 1.5 virial radii. We estimate the mass in Ne VIII-traced gas to be M-gas (Ne VIII) >= 10(9.5)M(circle dot) (Z/Z(circle dot))(-1), or 6%-20% of the expected baryonic mass if the Ne VIII absorbers have solar metallicity. Ionizing Ne VII to Ne VIII requires 207 eV, and photons with this energy are scarce in the CGM. However, for the median halo mass and redshift of our sample, the virial temperature is close to the peak temperature for the Ne VIII ion, and the Ne VIII-bearing gas is plausibly collisionally ionized near this temperature. Moreover, we find that photoionized Ne VIII requires cool and low-density clouds that would be highly underpressured (by approximately two orders of magnitude) relative to the putative, ambient virialized medium, complicating scenarios where such clouds could survive. Thus, more complex (e.g., nonequilibrium) models may be required; this first statistical sample of Ne VIII absorber/galaxy systems will provide stringent constraints for future CGM studies.

We present a 45 ks Chandra observation of the quasar ULAS J1342+0928 at z=7.54. We detect 14.0(-3.7)(+4.8) counts from the quasar in the observed-frame energy range 0.5-7.0 keV (6 sigma detection), representing the most distant non-transient astronomical source identified in X-rays to date. The present data are sufficient only to infer rough constraints on the spectral parameters. We find an X-ray hardness ratio of HR = -0.51(-0.28)(+0.26) between the 0.5-2.0 keV and 2.0-7.0 keV ranges and derive a power-law photon index of Gamma= 1.95(-0.53)(+0.55). Assuming a typical value for high-redshift quasars of Gamma = 1.9, ULAS J1342+0928 has a 2-10 keV rest-frame X-ray luminosity of L2-10 = 11.6(-3.5)(+4.3) x 10(44) erg s(-1). Its X-ray-to-optical power-law slope is alpha(OX) = -1.67(-0.10)(+0.16), consistent with the general trend indicating that the X-ray emission in the most bolometrically powerful quasars is weaker relative to their optical emission.