A search for second-timescale optical transients is one of the frontiers of time-domain astronomy. However, it has been pointed out that reflections of sunlight from Earth-orbiting objects can also produce second-timescale ``glints.'' We conducted wide-field observations at 2 frames per second using Tomo-e Gozen on the 1.05 m Kiso Schmidt telescope. We identified 1554 point-source glints that appeared in only one frame (0.5 sec). Their brightness ranges from 11 to 16 mag, with fainter glints being more numerous. These glints are likely caused by satellites and space debris in high-altitude orbits such as the geosynchronous Earth orbit or highly elliptical orbits. Many glints brighter than 14 mag are associated with known satellites or debris with large apogees ($>$ 30,000 km). In contrast, most fainter glints are not associated with cataloged objects and may be due to debris with sizes of 0.3--1 m. The event rate of second-timescale glints is estimated to be $4.7 \pm 0.2\ {\rm deg^{-2}\ hr^{-1}}$ (average) and $9.0 \pm 0.3\ {\rm deg^{-2}\ hr^{-1}}$ (near the equator) at 15.5 mag. Our results demonstrate that high-altitude debris can represent a significant foreground in searches for second-timescale optical transients. They also imply that deep surveys such as Rubin/LSST will detect many of these glints in single-exposure images.

SBS~0335-052E is a young star-forming dwarf galaxy with a total stellar mass of $M_{*} \lesssim 10^{8}~M_{\odot}$ and an extremely low metallicity ($Z \sim 1/40~Z_{\odot}$), which has long been considered to be devoid of an active galactic nucleus (AGN). Here we report the detection of temporal flux variability of SBS~0335-052E in near-infrared (NIR) 3-4\ ${\rm \mu}$m bands on timescales of several years, showing dimming and brightening of up to 50\% over 14~years, based on archival data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer. Our spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting of archival ultraviolet (UV)-NIR photometry, including AGN SED models, indicates that the variable NIR emission arises from an edge-on AGN dust torus. The UV-optical emission from the accretion disk is obscured and does not reach us, leading to the dominance of the host galaxy's young stellar population in the UV-optical wavelengths. This analysis favors the presence of a Compton-thick, heavily obscured AGN in SBS~0335-052E, consistent with its observed X-ray weakness. From the SED fitting, we estimate an AGN bolometric luminosity of $L_{\rm bol} = 1.2\times10^{43}\ {\rm erg\ s^{-1}}$, which implies a black hole mass of $M_{\rm BH} \simeq 10^{5}\ M_\odot$ if the AGN is accreting at the Eddington limit. If confirmed, SBS~0335-052E would be the least massive galaxy known to host an AGN, likely harboring an intermediate-mass black hole.

We present on results of a spatially resolved spectral analysis of G1.9+0.3, the youngest known supernova remnant in the Galaxy. The X-ray spectra are well described by synchrotron emission from a power-law electron distribution with an exponential cutoff. We found a cutoff energy $\epsilon_0 \sim 1 ~ \rm{keV}$ in both the radio bright rim and the X-ray bright rims. In the loss-limited case, the cutoff energy depends on the shock velocity $v_{\rm{sh}}$ and the Bohm factor $\eta$, following the relation $\epsilon_0 \propto v_{\rm{sh}}^2 \eta^{-1}$. Our analysis shows that $\eta$ ranges from 2 to 4 in the radio rim and from 12 to 15 in the X-ray rims. This suggests that the magnetic field in the radio rim is more turbulent than in the X-ray rims. The presence of CO clouds along the radio rim likely contributes to this difference. Interaction between the shock and these clouds can slow the shock down and generate turbulent eddies. The resulting turbulence eddies can amplify the magnetic field. We propose that the strong radio emission from the radio rim is primarily due to this amplified magnetic field. In contrast, a CO cloud located in the south-west appears to lie in the foreground, as indicated by its low turbulence and the absence of shock deceleration.

We investigate magnetic-field amplification driven by the nonresonant hybrid (NRH or Bell) instability and its impact on cosmic-ray (CR) acceleration at reverse shocks of ultrafast outflows (UFOs) from active galactic nuclei (AGN). Previous kinetic studies by particle-in-cell simulations have demonstrated that when maximum CR energy is near the injection scale, NRH instability efficiently amplifies magnetic field up to the saturation level. However, the efficiency of NRH instability goes down as maximum energy increase since CR current is carried by escaping CRs near the maximum energy. We employ a one-dimensional MHD--CR framework solving telegraph-type diffusion--convection equations to trace the coupled evolution of CRs, magnetic fields, and shock dynamics under realistic parameters. We find a distinct transition with magnetic field strength: for weak background fields ($B_{0}\!\lesssim\!10^{-4}\,\mathrm{G}$), NRH instability efficiently amplifies upstream turbulence, driving a self-regulated state where $E_{\max}$ becomes independent of initial strength of magnetic turbulence. In contrast, for stronger background fields ($B_{0}\!\gtrsim\!10^{-3}\,\mathrm{G}$), the escaping CR current is too weak to drive NRH instability, and magnetic turbulence further decays through parametric instabilities, potentially reducing the acceleration efficiency. We give the physical interpretation for the transition and discuss conditions for PeV--EeV acceleration at UFO reverse shocks.

We derive Fe-abundance ratios of 7 galaxies at $z=9-12$ with $-22

The first detection of an optical counterpart to a gravitational wave signal revealed that collaborative efforts between instruments with different specializations provide a unique opportunity to acquire impactful multi-messenger data. We present results of such a joint search with the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) and Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS) for the optical counterpart of the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA event S250328ae, a binary black hole merger candidate of high significance detected at a distance of 511$\pm$82 Mpc and localized within an area of 3 (15) square degrees at 50% (90%) confidence. We observed the 90% confidence area with DECam and identified 36 high-confidence transient candidates after image processing, candidate selection, and candidate vetting. We observed with PFS to obtain optical spectra of DECam candidates, Swift-XRT candidates, and potential host galaxies of S250328ae. In total, 3897 targets were observed by seven pointings covering ~50% of the 90% confidence area. After template fitting and visual inspection, we identified 12 SNe, 159 QSOs, 2975 galaxies, and 131 stars. With the joint observations of DECam and PFS, we found variability in 12 SNe, 139 QSOs, 37 galaxies, and 2 stars. We do not identify any confident optical counterparts, though the association is not ruled out for three variable candidates that are not observed by PFS and 6 QSO candidates without clear variability if the optical counterpart of S250328ae is faint. Despite the lack of confident optical counterparts, this paper serves as a framework for future collaborations between wide-field imagers and multi-object spectrographs to maximize multi-messenger analyses.

Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) is the next-generation ground-based gamma-ray observatory operating in the energy range from 20 GeV up to 300 TeV, with two sites in La Palma (Spain) and Paranal (Chile). It will consist of telescopes of three sizes, covering different parts of the large energy range. We report on the performance of Large-Sized Telescope prototype (LST-1) in the detection and characterization of extragalactic gamma-ray sources, with a focus on the reconstructed gamma-ray spectra and variability of classical bright BL Lacertae objects, which were observed during the early commissioning phase of the instrument. LST-1 data from known bright gamma-ray blazars - Markarian 421, Markarian 501, 1ES 1959+650, 1ES 0647+250, and PG 1553+113 - were collected between July 10, 2020, and May 23, 2022, covering a zenith angle range of 4 deg to 57 deg. The reconstructed light curves were analyzed using a Bayesian block algorithm to distinguish the different activity phases of each blazar. Simultaneous Fermi-LAT data were utilized to reconstruct the broadband $\gamma$-ray spectra for the sources during each activity phase. High-level reconstructed data in a format compatible with gammapy are provided together with measured light curves and spectral energy distributions (SEDs) for several bright blazars and an interpretation of the observed variability in long and short timescales. Simulations of historical flares are generated to evaluate the sensitivity of LST-1. This work represents the first milestone in monitoring bright BL Lacertae objects with a CTAO telescope.

Heating of charged particles via collisionless shocks, while ubiquitous in the universe, is an intriguing yet puzzling plasma phenomenon. One outstanding question is how electrons and ions approach an equilibrium after they were heated to different immediate-postshock temperatures. In order to fill the significant lack of observational information of the downstream temperature-relaxation process, we observe a thermal-dominant X-ray filament in the northwest of SN~1006 with Chandra. We divide this region into four layers with a thickness of 15$^{\prime\prime}$ or 0.16 pc each, and fit each spectrum by a non-equilibrium ionization collisional plasma model. The electron temperature was found to increase toward downstream from 0.52-0.62 keV to 0.82-0.95 keV on a length scale of 60 arcsec (or 0.64 pc). This electron temperature is lower than thermal relaxation processes via Coulomb scattering, requiring some other effects such as plasma mixture due to turbulence and/or projection effects, etc, which we hope will be resolved with future X-ray calorimeter missions such as XRISM and Athena.

While decades of observations in the TeV gamma-ray band have revealed more than 200~sources with radio or X-ray counterparts, there remain dozens of unidentified TeV sources, which may provide crucial information of cosmic ray (CR) accelerators. HESS J1626$-$490 is an unidentified TeV gamma-ray source but is expected to originate from CRs that escaped from the nearby supernova remnant (SNR) G335.2+0.1 and are interacting with dense interstellar clouds. To test this scenario, we scrutinize the properties of the SNR and search for non-thermal counterparts by analyzing observational data in the radio, X-ray, and GeV gamma-ray bands. From analysis of the H\,{\sc i} and $^{12}$CO ($J{=}1{-}0$) line data, we identify the cloud associated with the SNR and compare the morphologies of the cloud and the gamma-ray emission. The distance and age of the SNR are estimated to be $3.3 \pm 0.6$~kpc and ${\sim}5$~kyr, respectively. From X-ray and GeV gamma-ray data analyses, we find an extended GeV gamma-ray emission overlapping with the SNR and H.E.S.S. source regions but no X-ray emission. The location of the peak of the extended GeV emission changes from near the SNR at $\lesssim 1$~GeV to the H.E.S.S. source at $>10$~GeV. We find a spectral hardening at ${\sim}50$~GeV, which is consistent with the existence of two components in the gamma-ray emission. We find that a combination of emission from the escaped CRs and the SNR itself can reproduce the observed broadband spectrum, on the assumption that the SNR has accelerated protons to ${\gtrsim}100$~TeV in the past.

SS 433, located at the center of the W 50 radio nebula, is a binary system that ejects jets oriented east-west with precessional motion. X-ray lobes, containing compact "knots" labeled as head (e1), lenticular (e2), and ring (e3) in the east, as well as w1, w1.5, and w2 in the west, have been detected along the jets directions. Very-high-energy {\gamma}-ray emission has also been detected from regions containing these X-ray knots, suggesting highly efficient particle acceleration in the jets. In our previous study, we performed X-ray imaging spectroscopy of the western lobe of W 50 to investigate spectral variations. In this work, we extend our study to the eastern region using XMM-Newton observations to provide a more comprehensive picture of the X-ray emission from the SS 433 jets. Our results show no detectable synchrotron emission between SS 433 and the innermost knot (head). We also found that the X-ray spectrum of the eastern jet gradually steepens as one moves away from SS 433. While a similar spectral evolution is observed in the western jet, there are also noticeable differences. In the western lobe, the spectrum initially gradually steepens and then undergoes an abrupt softening outside the knot w2. However, in the eastern jet, no such rapid steepening is observed at the lenticular knot, which corresponds to w2 in the west. Furthermore, the observed brightening and spectral variations in the eastern jet cannot be explained by simply adjusting the parameters of the model used for the western side, suggesting the involvement of additional physical processes such as particle re-acceleration.

We report our near-infrared (NIR) follow-up observations of the gravitational wave (GW) event S240422ed using the Subaru Telescope/MOIRCS. S240422ed was initially classified as a black hole-neutron star merger with $>$ 99% probability of electromagnetic wave emission. We started follow-up observations 7.8 hours after the event. Over two nights, we observed 206 nearby galaxies in $Y$ and $K_{\rm s}$ bands down to about 21.4 and 21.1 AB mag (3$\sigma$), respectively. The total completeness of our survey based on galaxy $B$-band luminosity is 22%. As a result of our observations, five candidate counterparts were identified. We show that properties of these five objects are not consistent with kilonova such as AT2017gfo. Four objects are consistent with known classes of transients such as supernovae or dwarf nova outbursts. On the other hand, the nature of the remaining one object, which shows a red color and rapid decline, remains unclear. Although later analyses of GW signal reclassified S240422ed as likely terrestrial noise, our NIR observations provide valuable lessons for future NIR surveys for GW sources. We demonstrate that deep NIR follow-up observations as presented in this work would effectively constrain the presence of red kilonova even at 200 Mpc distance. We also discuss the importance of deep and wide NIR reference images and of understanding the properties and frequency of Galactic transients.

PG 1553+113 is one of the few blazars with a convincing quasi-periodic emission in the gamma-ray band. The source is also a very high-energy (VHE; >100 GeV) gamma-ray emitter. To better understand its properties and identify the underlying physical processes driving its variability, the MAGIC Collaboration initiated a multiyear, multiwavelength monitoring campaign in 2015 involving the OVRO 40-m and Medicina radio telescopes, REM, KVA, and the MAGIC telescopes, Swift and Fermi satellites, and the WEBT network. The analysis presented in this paper uses data until 2017 and focuses on the characterization of the variability. The gamma-ray data show a (hint of a) periodic signal compatible with literature, but the X-ray and VHE gamma-ray data do not show statistical evidence for a periodic signal. In other bands, the data are compatible with the gamma-ray period, but with a relatively high p-value. The complex connection between the low and high-energy emission and the non-monochromatic modulation and changes in flux suggests that a simple one-zone model is unable to explain all the variability. Instead, a model including a periodic component along with multiple emission zones is required.

The dSphs around the Milky Way are commonly considered as systems that are supported by velocity dispersion against self-gravitation. They have been long accounted among the best targets to search for indirect DM signatures in the GeV-to-TeV gamma-rays due to absence of astrophysical gamma-ray foreground or background emission. We present forecasts on the sensitivity of the future CTAO for the search for annihilating or decaying DM in such targets. We perform an original selection of candidates out of the current catalog of known objects, including both classical and ultra-faint targets. For each of them, we calculate the expected amount of DM using the most updated and complete available samples of photometric and spectroscopic data of member stars, adopting a common framework of data treatment for both classes of objects. In this way, we are able to generate novel astrophysical factor profiles for general indirect DM searches that we compare with the current literature. Out of a starting sample of 64 dSphs, we highlight the 8 most promising targets - DraI, CBe, UMaII, UMi and Wil1 in the Northern hemisphere; RetII, Scl and SgrII in the Southern hemisphere - for which different DM density models (either cored or cuspy) lead to similar expectations, at variance with what happens for other DM targets - thus resulting in more robust predictions. We find that CTAO will provide the strongest limits above ~10 TeV, down to values of velocity-averaged annihilation cross section of ~5$\times 10^{-25}$ cm$^3$ s$^{-1}$ and up to decay lifetimes of ~10$^{26}$ s for combined limits on the best targets. We argue that the largest source of inaccuracy is due to the still imprecise determination of the DM content, especially for ultra-faint dSphs. We propose possible strategies of observation for CTAO, either optimized on a deep focus on the best known candidates, or on the diversification of targets.

The interface between LaAlO3 and SrTiO3 hosts a two-dimensional electron system of itinerant carriers, although both oxides are band insulators. Interface ferromagnetism coexisting with superconductivity has been found and attributed to local moments. Experimentally, it has been established that Ti 3d electrons are confined to the interface. Using soft x-ray angle-resolved resonant photoelectron spectroscopy we have directly mapped the interface states in k-space. Our data demonstrate a charge dichotomy. A mobile fraction contributes to Fermi surface sheets, whereas a localized portion at higher binding energies is tentatively attributed to electrons trapped by O-vacancies in the SrTiO3. While photovoltage effects in the polar LaAlO3 layers cannot be excluded, the apparent absence of surface-related Fermi surface sheets could also be fully reconciled in a recently proposed electronic reconstruction picture where the built-in potential in the LaAlO3 is compensated by surface O-vacancies serving also as charge reservoir.

IRAS 00500+6713 is a hypothesized remnant of a type Iax supernova SN 1181. Multi-wavelength observations have revealed its complicated morphology; a dusty infrared ring is sandwiched by the inner and outer X-ray nebulae. We analyze the archival X-ray data taken by XMM-Newton and Chandra to constrain the {angular radius}, mass, and metal abundance of the X-ray nebulae, and construct a theoretical model describing the dynamical evolution of IRAS 00500+6713, including the effects of the interaction between the SN ejecta and the intense wind enriched with carbon burning ashes from the central white dwarf (WD) J005311. We show that the inner X-ray nebula corresponds to the wind termination shock while the outer X-ray nebula to the shocked interface between the SN ejecta and the interstellar matter. The observed X-ray properties can be explained by our model with an {ejecta kinetic} energy of $E_\mathrm{ej} = (0.77 \mbox{--} 1.1)\times 10^{48}$~erg, an ejecta mass of$M_\mathrm{ej} = 0.18\mbox{--}0.53~M_\odot$, if the currently observed wind from WD J005311 started to blow $t_\mathrm{w} \gtrsim 810$ yr after the explosion, i.e., approximately after A.D. 1990. The inferred SN properties are compatible with those of Type Iax SNe and the timing of the wind launch may correspond to the Kelvin-Helmholtz contraction of the oxygen-neon core of WD J005311 that triggered a surface carbon burning. Our analysis supports that IRAS 00500+6713 is the remnant of SN Iax 1181 produced by a double degenerate merger of oxygen-neon and carbon-oxygen WDs, and WD J005311 is the surviving merger product.

The second catalog of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) in two years of scientific operation is presented. The Second LAT AGN Catalog (2LAC) includes 1017 gamma-ray sources located at high Galactic latitudes (|b|>10°) that are detected with a test statistic greater than 25 and associated statistically with AGNs. However some of these are affected by analysis issues and some are associated with multiple AGNs. Consequently we define a clean sample which includes 886 AGNs, comprising 395 BL Lacertae objects (BL Lacs), 310 flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs), 157 candidate blazars of unknown type (i.e., with broad-band blazar characteristics but with no optical spectral measurement yet), eight misaligned AGNs, four narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLS1s), 10 AGNs of other types and two starburst galaxies. Where possible, the blazars have been further classified based on their spectral energy distributions (SEDs) as archival radio, optical, and X-ray data permit. While almost all FSRQs have a synchrotron-peak frequency 10^14 Hz, about half of the BL Lacs have a synchrotron-peak frequency >10^15 Hz. The 2LAC represents a significant improvement relative to the First LAT AGN Catalog (1LAC), with 52% more associated sources. The full characterization of the newly detected sources will require more broad-band data. Various properties, such as gamma-ray fluxes and photon power law spectral indices, redshifts, gamma-ray luminosities, variability, and archival radio luminosities---and their correlations are presented and discussed for the different blazar classes. The general trends observed in 1LAC are confirmed.

Photoproduction of $\phi$-meson on protons was studied by means of linearly polarized photons at forward angles in the low-energy region from threshold to $E_{\gamma}$= 2.37 GeV. The differential cross sections at $t = -|t|_{min}$ do not increase smoothly as $E_{\gamma}$ increases, but show a local maximum at around 2.0 GeV. The angular distributions demonstrate that $\phi$-mesons are photo-produced predominantly by helicity-conserving processes, and the local maximum is not likely due to unnatural-parity processes.