Explore the vast range of titles available.

Merging neutron stars offer an excellent laboratory for simultaneously studying strong-field gravity and matter in extreme environments. We establish the physical association of an electromagnetic counterpart (EM170817) with gravitational waves (GW170817) detected from merging neutron stars. By synthesizing a panchromatic data set, we demonstrate that merging neutron stars are a long-sought production site forging heavy elements by r-process nucleosynthesis. The weak gamma rays seen in EM170817 are dissimilar to classical short gamma-ray bursts with ultrarelativistic jets. Instead, we suggest that breakout of a wide-angle, mildly relativistic cocoon engulfing the jet explains the low-luminosity gamma rays, the high-luminosity ultraviolet-optical-infrared, and the delayed radio and x-ray emission. We posit that all neutron star mergers may lead to a wide-angle cocoon breakout, sometimes accompanied by a successful jet and sometimes by a choked jet.

Hypervelocity stars (HVSs) travel with velocities so high that they exceed the escape velocity of the Galaxy. Several acceleration mechanisms have been discussed. Only one HVS (US 708, HVS 2) is a compact helium star. Here we present a spectroscopic and kinematic analysis of US 708. Traveling with a velocity of ∼1200 kilometers per second, it is the fastest unbound star in our Galaxy. In reconstructing its trajectory, the Galactic center becomes very unlikely as an origin, which is hardly consistent with the most favored ejection mechanism for the other HVSs. Furthermore, we detected that US 708 is a fast rotator. According to our binary evolution model, it was spun-up by tidal interaction in a close binary and is likely to be the ejected donor remnant of a thermonuclear supernova.

We report the discovery of a multiply imaged, gravitationally lensed type Ia supernova, iPTF16geu (SN 2016geu), at redshift z = 0.409. This phenomenon was identified because the light from the stellar explosion was magnified more than 50 times by the curvature of space around matter in an intervening galaxy. We used high-spatial-resolution observations to resolve four images of the lensed supernova, approximately 0.3 arc seconds from the center of the foreground galaxy. The observations probe a physical scale of ~1 kiloparsec, smaller than is typical in other studies of extragalactic gravitational lensing. The large magnification and symmetric image configuration imply close alignment between the lines of sight to the supernova and to the lens. The relative magnifications of the four images provide evidence for substructures in the lensing galaxy.

Observations of a white dwarf/cool star binary that emits from X-ray to radio wavelengths, AR Sco, reveal a close binary with a 3.56-h period, pulsing in brightness with a period of 1.97 min; these pulses are so intense that the optical flux of AR Sco can increase by a factor of four within 30 s, and the pulsing is detectable at radio frequencies. A white dwarf with a difference AR Scorpii (AR Sco) has been known as a short-period variable star for more than 40 years, and was classified as a δ-Scuti star, a common type of periodic variable. New observations reveal AR Sco as a so-far unique system, a white dwarf/cool star binary pulsing strongly over almost the entire electromagnetic spectrum, from X-ray to radio wavelengths. AR Sco's optical flux can increase by a factor of four within just 30 seconds, and the pulsations are detectable at radio frequencies. These characteristics reflect the spin of a magnetic white dwarf that is slowing down on a 10 7 -year timescale. Although the pulsations are driven by the white dwarf's spin, they originate in large part from the cool star. White dwarfs are compact stars, similar in size to Earth but approximately 200,000 times more massive 1 . Isolated white dwarfs emit most of their power from ultraviolet to near-infrared wavelengths, but when in close orbits with less dense stars, white dwarfs can strip material from their companions and the resulting mass transfer can generate atomic line 2 and X-ray 3 emission, as well as near- and mid-infrared radiation if the white dwarf is magnetic 4 . However, even in binaries, white dwarfs are rarely detected at far-infrared or radio frequencies. Here we report the discovery of a white dwarf/cool star binary that emits from X-ray to radio wavelengths. The star, AR Scorpii (henceforth AR Sco), was classified in the early 1970s as a δ-Scuti star 5 , a common variety of periodic variable star. Our observations reveal instead a 3.56-hour period close binary, pulsing in brightness on a period of 1.97 minutes. The pulses are so intense that AR Sco’s optical flux can increase by a factor of four within 30 seconds, and they are also detectable at radio frequencies. They reflect the spin of a magnetic white dwarf, which we find to be slowing down on a 10 7 -year timescale. The spin-down power is an order of magnitude larger than that seen in electromagnetic radiation, which, together with an absence of obvious signs of accretion, suggests that AR Sco is primarily spin-powered. Although the pulsations are driven by the white dwarf’s spin, they mainly originate from the cool star. AR Sco’s broadband spectrum is characteristic of synchrotron radiation, requiring relativistic electrons. These must either originate from near the white dwarf or be generated in situ at the M star through direct interaction with the white dwarf’s magnetosphere.

Supernovae Ia are bright explosive events that can be used to estimate cosmological distances, allowing us to study the expansion of the Universe. They are understood to result from a thermonuclear detonation in a white dwarf that formed from the exhausted core of a star more massive than the Sun. However, the possible progenitor channels leading to an explosion are a long-standing debate, limiting the precision and accuracy of supernovae Ia as distance indicators. Here we present HD 265435, a binary system with an orbital period of less than a hundred minutes that consists of a white dwarf and a hot subdwarf, which is a stripped core-helium-burning star. The total mass of the system is 1.65 ± 0.25 solar masses, exceeding the Chandrasekhar limit (the maximum mass of a stable white dwarf). The system will merge owing to gravitational wave emission in 70 million years, likely triggering a supernova Ia event. We use this detection to place constraints on the contribution of hot subdwarf–white dwarf binaries to supernova Ia progenitors. Understanding the progenitors of type Ia supernova is important for their use as cosmological distance probes. Here the authors identify a candidate for a type Ia supernova that is due to explode in 70 million years: a white dwarf in a binary system with a stripped core-helium-burning star.

A correction factor is derived to account for nonuniformities in the exposure time as seen by different positions on the focal plane of the ZTF camera. These nonuniformities arise from a combination of the shutter opening and closing motion; the geometrical setup of the telescope; and the presence of obstructions in the beam beyond the pupil plane. The correction to the exposure time is measured by comparing a set of dome-flat images taken with multiple shutter opening/closing motions to those obtained with a normal exposure of the same total duration. The correction to the exposure time is small, of the order of 30 ms averaged over the entire field of view with peaks of ∼60 ms at the east and west edges of the camera. The effect is thus of the order of 0.1% on average for the nominal ZTF survey exposures of 30 s. Comparing the results obtained from three sets of dedicated observations acquired in 2017 December, we assess the stability of the correction factor to be better than 7% both in time and with respect to variations of the experimental conditions.

The Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) is a modern-day wide-field optical survey to systematically explore the transient and variable sky. The ZTF utilizes the 48-inch Samuel Oschin Schmidt Telescope located at the Palomar Observatory. This telescope is equipped with a mosaic CCD camera that provides a field of view of 47 squared degrees. The allocated observing time of ZTF can be divided into partnership time (40%), public time (40%) and Caltech time (20%). The public time contains two surveys: a 3-day cadence for the Northern Sky Survey and a 1-day cadence for the Galactic Plane Survey. Astronomical communities in South East Asian countries are encouraged to explore the public ZTF data once it is released in March 2019. Taiwan's National Central University (NCU) is one of the partnered institutions, and a major ZTF-related project carried out at NCU is the ZTF Be stars variability (ZTF-BeV) program. The main goal of our program is to study the variability of Be stars in the range of ∼13.5 to ∼20.5 magnitudes.

Fat-soluble vitamins, such as vitamins A and E, are essential micronutrients generally found in fruits, nuts, oils, and vegetables. These vitamins have better absorption and retention in the body when compared to water-soluble vitamins. They also play a significant role in cellular metabolism and the pathophysiology of human health and disease. Further, acting as coenzymes in several biochemical pathways, these vitamins also play a crucial role in immune regulation, vision, and oxidative stress responses. Further, these vitamins have emerged as potential preventive and therapeutic strategies for a wide range of diseases. Recently, vitamins A and E have been shown to exert beneficial effects against various cancers. Further, these vitamins are actively involved in cancer progression or prevention by regulating oxidative, immune, and inflammatory responses, as well as epigenetic processes. This narrative review discusses how recent preclinical and clinical studies have identified multiple pathways through which these vitamins impact cancer prevention and therapy. Furthermore, it also analyzes the potential of vitamins A and E in cancer management and advocates for continued research to unlock their therapeutic potential.

We performed a wide-area (2000 deg²) g and I band experiment as part of a two month extension to the Intermediate Palomar Transient Factory. We discovered 36 extragalactic transients including iPTF17lf, a highly reddened local SN Ia, iPTF17bkj, a new member of the rare class of transitional Ibn/IIn supernovae, and iPTF17be, a candidate luminous blue variable outburst. We do not detect any luminous red novae and place an upper limit on their rate. We show that adding a slow-cadence I band component to upcoming surveys such as the Zwicky Transient Facility will improve the photometric selection of cool and dusty transients.