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At least 1,045 records · Page 58
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DOE OSTI2015

A tight L{sub iso}–E{sub p,z}–Γ{sub 0} correlation of gamma-ray bursts

We select a sample of 34 gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) whose Γ{sub 0} values are derived with the onset peaks observed in the afterglow light curves (except for GRB 060218, whose Γ{sub 0} is estimated with its radio data), and investigate the correlations among Γ{sub 0}, the isotropic peak luminosity (L{sub iso}), and the peak energy (E{sub p,z}) of the νf{sub ν} spectrum in the cosmological rest frame. An analysis of pair correlations among these observables well confirms the results reported by the previous papers. More interestingly, a tight correlation among L{sub iso}, E{sub p,z}, and Γ{sub 0} is found from a multiple regression analysis, which takes the form of L{sub iso}∝E{sub p,z}{sup 1.34±0.14}Γ{sub 0}{sup 1.32±0.19} or E{sub p,z}∝L{sub iso}{sup 0.55±0.06}Γ{sub 0}{sup −0.50±0.17}. Nine other GRBs whose Γ{sub 0} are derived via the pair production opacity constraint also follow such a correlation. Excluding GRB 060218, the L{sub iso}−E{sub p,z}−Γ{sub 0} correlation is valid, and it even holds in the jet co-moving frame. However, GRB 060218 deviates the L{sub iso}{sup ′}−E{sub p}{sup ′} relation of typical GRBs in the jet co-moving frame with 3σ. We argue that the L{sub iso}−E{sub p,z}−Γ{sub 0} correlation may be more physical than the L{sub iso}−E{sub p,z} correlation, since physically the relationship between the observed L{sub iso} and E{sub p,z} not only depends on radiation physics, but also depends on the bulk motion of the jet. We explore the possible origins of this correlation and discuss its physical implications for understanding GRB jet composition and radiation mechanisms.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Hα LINE PROFILE ASYMMETRIES AND THE CHROMOSPHERIC FLARE VELOCITY FIELD

The asymmetries observed in the line profiles of solar flares can provide important diagnostics of the properties and dynamics of the flaring atmosphere. In this paper the evolution of the Hα and Ca ii λ8542 lines are studied using high spatial, temporal, and spectral resolution ground-based observations of an M1.1 flare obtained with the Swedish 1 m Solar Telescope. The temporal evolution of the Hα line profiles from the flare kernel shows excess emission in the red wing (red asymmetry) before flare maximum and excess in the blue wing (blue asymmetry) after maximum. However, the Ca ii λ8542 line does not follow the same pattern, showing only a weak red asymmetry during the flare. RADYN simulations are used to synthesize spectral line profiles for the flaring atmosphere, and good agreement is found with the observations. We show that the red asymmetry observed in Hα is not necessarily associated with plasma downflows, and the blue asymmetry may not be related to plasma upflows. Indeed, we conclude that the steep velocity gradients in the flaring chromosphere modify the wavelength of the central reversal in the Hα line profile. The shift in the wavelength of maximum opacity to shorter and longer wavelengths generates the red and blue asymmetries, respectively.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Thermal conductivity of rubble piles

Rubble piles are a common feature of solar system bodies. They are composed of monolithic elements of ice or rock bound by gravity. Voids occupy a significant fraction of the volume of a rubble pile. They can exist up to pressure P≈ϵ{sub Y}μ, where ϵ{sub Y} is the monolithic material's yield strain and μ its rigidity. At low P, contacts between neighboring elements are confined to a small fraction of their surface areas. As a result, the effective thermal conductivity of a rubble pile, k{sub con}≈k(P/(ϵ{sub Y}μ)){sup 1/2}, can be orders of magnitude smaller than the thermal conductivity of its monolithic elements, k. In a fluid-free environment, only radiation can transfer energy across voids. It contributes an additional component, k{sub rad}=16ℓσT{sup 3}/3, to the total effective conductivity, k{sub eff}=k{sub con}+k{sub rad}. Here ℓ, the inverse of the opacity per unit volume, is of the order of the size of the elements, and voids. An important distinction between k{sub con} and k{sub rad} is that the former is independent of the size of the elements, whereas the latter is proportional to it. Our expression for k{sub eff} provides a good fit to the depth dependence of thermal conductivity in the top 140 cm of the lunar regolith. It also offers a good starting point for detailed modeling of thermal inertias for asteroids and satellites. Measurement of the response of surface temperature to variable insolation is a valuable diagnostic of a regolith. There is an opportunity for careful experiments under controlled laboratory conditions to test models of thermal conductivity such as the one we outline.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

STAR CLUSTER FORMATION WITH STELLAR FEEDBACK AND LARGE-SCALE INFLOW

During star cluster formation, ongoing mass accretion is resisted by stellar feedback in the form of protostellar outflows from the low-mass stars and photo-ionization and radiation pressure feedback from the massive stars. We model the evolution of cluster-forming regions during a phase in which both accretion and feedback are present and use these models to investigate how star cluster formation might terminate. Protostellar outflows are the strongest form of feedback in low-mass regions, but these cannot stop cluster formation if matter continues to flow in. In more massive clusters, radiation pressure and photo-ionization rapidly clear the cluster-forming gas when its column density is too small. We assess the rates of dynamical mass ejection and of evaporation, while accounting for the important effect of dust opacity on photo-ionization. Our models are consistent with the census of protostellar outflows in NGC 1333 and Serpens South and with the dust temperatures observed in regions of massive star formation. Comparing observations of massive cluster-forming regions against our model parameter space, and against our expectations for accretion-driven evolution, we infer that massive-star feedback is a likely cause of gas disruption in regions with velocity dispersions less than a few kilometers per second, but that more massive and more turbulent regions are too strongly bound for stellar feedback to be disruptive.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

MODULES FOR EXPERIMENTS IN STELLAR ASTROPHYSICS (MESA): PLANETS, OSCILLATIONS, ROTATION, AND MASSIVE STARS

We substantially update the capabilities of the open source software package Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA), and its one-dimensional stellar evolution module, MESA star. Improvements in MESA star's ability to model the evolution of giant planets now extends its applicability down to masses as low as one-tenth that of Jupiter. The dramatic improvement in asteroseismology enabled by the space-based Kepler and CoRoT missions motivates our full coupling of the ADIPLS adiabatic pulsation code with MESA star. This also motivates a numerical recasting of the Ledoux criterion that is more easily implemented when many nuclei are present at non-negligible abundances. This impacts the way in which MESA star calculates semi-convective and thermohaline mixing. We exhibit the evolution of 3-8 M{sub Sun} stars through the end of core He burning, the onset of He thermal pulses, and arrival on the white dwarf cooling sequence. We implement diffusion of angular momentum and chemical abundances that enable calculations of rotating-star models, which we compare thoroughly with earlier work. We introduce a new treatment of radiation-dominated envelopes that allows the uninterrupted evolution of massive stars to core collapse. This enables the generation of new sets of supernovae, long gamma-ray burst, and pair-instability progenitor models. We substantially modify the way in which MESA star solves the fully coupled stellar structure and composition equations, and we show how this has improved the scaling of MESA's calculational speed on multi-core processors. Updates to the modules for equation of state, opacity, nuclear reaction rates, and atmospheric boundary conditions are also provided. We describe the MESA Software Development Kit that packages all the required components needed to form a unified, maintained, and well-validated build environment for MESA. We also highlight a few tools developed by the community for rapid visualization of MESA star results.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

ANALYTICAL MODELS OF EXOPLANETARY ATMOSPHERES. II. RADIATIVE TRANSFER VIA THE TWO-STREAM APPROXIMATION

We present a comprehensive analytical study of radiative transfer using the method of moments and include the effects of non-isotropic scattering in the coherent limit. Within this unified formalism, we derive the governing equations and solutions describing two-stream radiative transfer (which approximates the passage of radiation as a pair of outgoing and incoming fluxes), flux-limited diffusion (which describes radiative transfer in the deep interior), and solutions for the temperature-pressure profiles. Generally, the problem is mathematically underdetermined unless a set of closures (Eddington coefficients) is specified. We demonstrate that the hemispheric (or hemi-isotropic) closure naturally derives from the radiative transfer equation if energy conservation is obeyed, while the Eddington closure produces spurious enhancements of both reflected light and thermal emission. We concoct recipes for implementing two-stream radiative transfer in stand-alone numerical calculations and general circulation models. We use our two-stream solutions to construct toy models of the runaway greenhouse effect. We present a new solution for temperature-pressure profiles with a non-constant optical opacity and elucidate the effects of non-isotropic scattering in the optical and infrared. We derive generalized expressions for the spherical and Bond albedos and the photon deposition depth. We demonstrate that the value of the optical depth corresponding to the photosphere is not always 2/3 (Milne's solution) and depends on a combination of stellar irradiation, internal heat, and the properties of scattering in both the optical and infrared. Finally, we derive generalized expressions for the total, net, outgoing, and incoming fluxes in the convective regime.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

THE BOLOCAM GALACTIC PLANE SURVEY. XI. TEMPERATURES AND SUBSTRUCTURE OF GALACTIC CLUMPS BASED ON 350 μM OBSERVATIONS

We present 107 maps of continuum emission at 350 μm from Galactic molecular clumps. Observed sources were mainly selected from the Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey (BGPS) catalog, with three additional maps covering star-forming regions in the outer Galaxy. The higher resolution of the SHARC-II images (8.″5 beam) compared with the 1.1 mm images from BGPS (33″ beam) allowed us to identify a large population of smaller substructures within the clumps. A catalog is presented for the 1386 sources extracted from the 350 μm maps. The color temperature distribution of clumps based on the two wavelengths has a median of 13.3 K and mean of 16.3 ± 0.4 K, assuming an opacity law index of 1.7. For the structures with good determination of color temperatures, the mean ratio of gas temperature, determined from NH{sub 3} observations, to dust color temperature is 0.88 and the median ratio is 0.76. About half the clumps have more than 2 substructures and 22 clumps have more than 10. The fraction of the mass in dense substructures seen at 350 μm compared to the mass of their parental clump is ∼0.19, and the surface densities of these substructures are, on average, 2.2 times those seen in the clumps identified at 1.1 mm. For a well-characterized sample, 88 structures (31%) exceed a surface density of 0.2 g cm{sup −2}, and 18 (6%) exceed 1.0 g cm{sup −2}, thresholds for massive star formation suggested by theorists.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

The Keck + Magellan survey for Lyman limit absorption. III. Sample definition and column density measurements

We present an absorption-line survey of optically thick gas clouds—Lyman Limit Systems (LLSs)—observed at high dispersion with spectrometers on the Keck and Magellan telescopes. We measure column densities of neutral hydrogen N{sub H I} and associated metal-line transitions for 157 LLSs at z{sub LLS}=1.76−4.39 restricted to 10{sup 17.3} cm{sup −2}⩽N{sub H I}<10{sup 20.3} cm{sup −2}. An empirical analysis of ionic ratios indicates an increasing ionization state of the gas with decreasing N{sub H I} and that the majority of LLSs are highly ionized, confirming previous expectations. The Si{sup +}/H{sup 0} ratio spans nearly four orders of magnitude, implying a large dispersion in the gas metallicity. Fewer than 5% of these LLSs have no positive detection of a metal transition; by z∼3, nearly all gas that is dense enough to exhibit a very high Lyman limit opacity has previously been polluted by heavy elements. We add new measurements to the small subset of LLS (≈5%–10%) that may have super-solar abundances. High Si{sup +}/Fe{sup +} ratios suggest an α-enhanced medium, whereas the Si{sup +}/C{sup +} ratios do not exhibit the super-solar enhancement inferred previously for the Lyα forest.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Solar axion flux from the axion-electron coupling

In non-hadronic axion models, where axions couple to electrons at tree level, the solar axion flux is completely dominated by the ABC reactions (Atomic recombination and deexcitation, Bremsstrahlung and Compton). In this paper the ABC flux is computed from available libraries of monochromatic photon radiative opacities (OP, LEDCOP and OPAS) by exploiting the relations between axion and photon emission cross sections. These results turn to be ∼ 30% larger than previous estimates due to atomic recombination (free-bound electron transitions) and deexcitation (bound-bound), which where not previously taken into account.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

A tale of two modes: neutrino free-streaming in the early universe

We present updated constraints on the free-streaming nature of cosmological neutrinos from cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature and polarization power spectra, baryonic acoustic oscillation data, and distance ladder measurements of the Hubble constant. Specifically, we consider a Fermi-like four-fermion interaction between massless neutrinos, characterized by an effective coupling constant G {sub eff}, and resulting in a neutrino opacity τ-dot {sub ν∝} G {sub eff}{sup 2} T {sub ν}{sup 5}. Using a conservative flat prior on the parameter log{sub 10}( G {sub eff} MeV{sup 2}), we find a bimodal posterior distribution with two clearly separated regions of high probability. The first of these modes is consistent with the standard ΛCDM cosmology and corresponds to neutrinos decoupling at redshift z {sub ν,dec} > 1.3×10{sup 5}, that is before the Fourier modes probed by the CMB damping tail enter the causal horizon. The other mode of the posterior, dubbed the 'interacting neutrino mode', corresponds to neutrino decoupling occurring within a narrow redshift window centered around z {sub ν,dec}∼8300. This mode is characterized by a high value of the effective neutrino coupling constant, log{sub 10}( G {sub eff} MeV{sup 2}) = −1.72 ± 0.10 (68% C.L.), together with a lower value of the scalar spectral index and amplitude of fluctuations, and a higher value of the Hubble parameter. Using both a maximum likelihood analysis and the ratio of the two mode's Bayesian evidence, we find the interacting neutrino mode to be statistically disfavored compared to the standard ΛCDM cosmology, and determine this result to be largely driven by the low- l CMB temperature data. Interestingly, the addition of CMB polarization and direct Hubble constant measurements significantly raises the statistical significance of this secondary mode, indicating that new physics in the neutrino sector could help explain the difference between local measurements of H {sub 0}, and those inferred from CMB data. A robust consequence of our results is that neutrinos must be free streaming long before the epoch of matter-radiation equality in order to fit current cosmological data.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2013

MINERAL PROCESSING BY SHORT CIRCUITS IN PROTOPLANETARY DISKS

Meteoritic chondrules were formed in the early solar system by brief heating of silicate dust to melting temperatures. Some highly refractory grains (Type B calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions, CAIs) also show signs of transient heating. A similar process may occur in other protoplanetary disks, as evidenced by observations of spectra characteristic of crystalline silicates. One possible environment for this process is the turbulent magnetohydrodynamic flow thought to drive accretion in these disks. Such flows generally form thin current sheets, which are sites of magnetic reconnection, and dissipate the magnetic fields amplified by a disk dynamo. We suggest that it is possible to heat precursor grains for chondrules and other high-temperature minerals in current sheets that have been concentrated by our recently described short-circuit instability. We extend our work on this process by including the effects of radiative cooling, taking into account the temperature dependence of the opacity; and by examining current sheet geometry in three-dimensional, global models of magnetorotational instability. We find that temperatures above 1600 K can be reached for favorable parameters that match the ideal global models. This mechanism could provide an efficient means of tapping the gravitational potential energy of the protoplanetary disk to heat grains strongly enough to form high-temperature minerals. The volume-filling nature of turbulent magnetic reconnection is compatible with constraints from chondrule-matrix complementarity, chondrule-chondrule complementarity, the occurrence of igneous rims, and compound chondrules. The same short-circuit mechanism may perform other high-temperature mineral processing in protoplanetary disks such as the production of crystalline silicates and CAIs.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

THE r-PROCESS IN PROTO-NEUTRON-STAR WIND REVISITED

We examine the r-process in the neutrino-driven proto-neutron-star (PNS) wind of core-collapse supernovae in light of the recent findings of massive neutron stars in binaries as well as of an indication of neutron-richness in the PNS ejecta because of the nucleon potential corrections on neutrino opacities. To this end, a spherically symmetric, general relativistic, steady-state wind model is applied for a wide range of PNS masses between 1.2 M{sub Sun} and 2.4 M{sub Sun} with the latter reaching the causality limit. Nucleosynthesis calculations with these PNS models are performed by assuming a time evolution of electron fraction with its minimal value of Y{sub e} = 0.4, which mimics recent hydrodynamical results. The fundamental nucleosynthetic aspect of the PNS wind is found to be the production of Sr, Y, and Zr in quasi-equilibrium and of the elements with A Almost-Equal-To 90-110 by a weak r-process, which can be an explanation for the abundance signatures in r-process-poor Galactic halo stars. PNSs more massive than 2.0 M{sub Sun} can eject heavy r-process elements, however, with substantially smaller amount than what is needed to account for the solar content. PNS winds can be thus the major origin of light trans-iron elements but no more than 10% of those heavier than A {approx} 110, although they may be the sources of the low-level abundances of Sr and Ba found in numerous metal-poor stars if the maximum mass of PNSs exceeds 2.0 M{sub Sun }.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

RESONANCES IN THE PHOTOIONIZATION CROSS SECTIONS OF ATOMIC NITROGEN SHAPE THE FAR-ULTRAVIOLET SPECTRUM OF THE BRIGHT STAR IN 47 TUCANAE

The far-ultraviolet spectrum of the Bright Star (B8 III) in 47 Tuc (NGC 104) shows a remarkable pattern: it is well fit by local thermodynamic equilibrium models at wavelengths longer than Ly{beta}, but at shorter wavelengths it is fainter than the models by a factor of two. A spectrum of this star obtained with the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer shows broad absorption troughs with sharp edges at 995 and 1010 A and a deep absorption feature at 1072 A; none of which are predicted by the models. We find that these features are caused by resonances in the photoionization cross sections of the first and second excited states of atomic nitrogen (2s {sup 2} 2p {sup 3} {sup 2} D {sup 0} and {sup 2} P {sup 0}). Using cross sections from the Opacity Project, we can reproduce these features, but only if we use the cross sections at their full resolution, rather than the resonance-averaged cross sections usually employed to model stellar atmospheres. These resonances are strongest in stellar atmospheres with enhanced nitrogen and depleted carbon abundances, a pattern typical of post-asymptotic giant branch stars.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

NEAR-IR DIRECT DETECTION OF WATER VAPOR IN TAU BOÖTIS b

We use high dynamic range, high-resolution L-band spectroscopy to measure the radial velocity (RV) variations of the hot Jupiter in the τ Boötis planetary system. The detection of an exoplanet by the shift in the stellar spectrum alone provides a measure of the planet's minimum mass, with the true mass degenerate with the unknown orbital inclination. Treating the τ Boo system as a high flux ratio double-lined spectroscopic binary permits the direct measurement of the planet's true mass as well as its atmospheric properties. After removing telluric absorption and cross-correlating with a model planetary spectrum dominated by water opacity, we measure a 6σ detection of the planet at K{sub p} = 111 ± 5 km s{sup –1}, with a 1σ upper limit on the spectroscopic flux ratio of 10{sup –4}. This RV leads to a planetary orbital inclination of i=45{sub −4}{sup +3}° and a mass of M{sub P}=5.90{sub −0.20}{sup +0.35} M{sub Jup}. We report the first detection of water vapor in the atmosphere of a non-transiting hot Jupiter, τ Boo b.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

DEEP BROADBAND OBSERVATIONS OF THE DISTANT GAMMA-RAY BLAZAR PKS 1424+240

We present deep VERITAS observations of the blazar PKS 1424+240, along with contemporaneous Fermi Large Area Telescope, Swift X-ray Telescope, and Swift UV Optical Telescope data between 2009 February 19 and 2013 June 8. This blazar resides at a redshift of z ≥ 0.6035, displaying a significantly attenuated gamma-ray flux above 100 GeV due to photon absorption via pair-production with the extragalactic background light. We present more than 100 hr of VERITAS observations over three years, a multiwavelength light curve, and the contemporaneous spectral energy distributions. The source shows a higher flux of (2.1 ± 0.3) × 10{sup –7} photons m{sup –2} s{sup –1} above 120 GeV in 2009 and 2011 as compared to the flux measured in 2013, corresponding to (1.02 ± 0.08) × 10{sup –7} photons m{sup –2} s{sup –1} above 120 GeV. The measured differential very high energy (VHE; E ≥ 100 GeV) spectral indices are Γ = 3.8 ± 0.3, 4.3 ± 0.6 and 4.5 ± 0.2 in 2009, 2011, and 2013, respectively. No significant spectral change across the observation epochs is detected. We find no evidence for variability at gamma-ray opacities of greater than τ = 2, where it is postulated that any variability would be small and occur on timescales longer than a year if hadronic cosmic-ray interactions with extragalactic photon fields provide a secondary VHE photon flux. The data cannot rule out such variability due to low statistics.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

DUST FORMATION, EVOLUTION, AND OBSCURATION EFFECTS IN THE VERY HIGH-REDSHIFT UNIVERSE

The evolution of dust at redshifts z ≳ 9, and consequently the dust properties, differs greatly from that in the local universe. In contrast to the local universe, core collapse supernovae (CCSNe) are the only source of thermally condensed dust. Because of the low initial dust-to-gas mass ratio, grain destruction rates are low, so that CCSNe are net producers of interstellar dust. Galaxies with large initial gas mass or high mass infall rate will therefore have a more rapid net rate of dust production compared to galaxies with lower gas mass, even at the same star formation rate. The dust composition is dominated by silicates, which exhibit a strong rise in the UV opacity near the Lyman break. This ''silicate-UV break'' may be confused with the Lyman break, resulting in a misidentification of a galaxy's photometric redshift. In this Letter we demonstrate these effects by analyzing the spectral energy distribution of MACS1149-JD, a lensed galaxy at z = 9.6. A potential 2 mm counterpart of MACS1149-JD has been identified with GISMO. While additional observations are required to corroborate this identification, we use this possible association to illustrate the physical processes and the observational effects of dust in the very high-redshift universe.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

SPECTRAL VARIABILITY FROM THE PATCHY ATMOSPHERES OF T AND Y DWARFS

Brown dwarfs of a variety of spectral types have been observed to be photometrically variable. Previous studies have focused on objects at the L/T transition, where the iron and silicate clouds in L dwarfs break up or dissipate. However, objects outside of this transitional effective temperature regime also exhibit variability. Here, we present models for mid-late T dwarfs and Y dwarfs. We present models that include patchy salt and sulfide clouds as well as water clouds for the Y dwarfs. We find that for objects over 375 K, patchy cloud opacity would generate the largest amplitude variability within near-infrared spectral windows. For objects under 375 K, water clouds also become important and generate larger amplitude variability in the mid-infrared. We also present models in which we perturb the temperature structure at different pressure levels of the atmosphere to simulate hot spots. These models show the most variability in the absorption features between spectral windows. The variability is strongest at wavelengths that probe pressure levels at which the heating is the strongest. The most illustrative types of observations for understanding the physical processes underlying brown dwarf variability are simultaneous, multi-wavelength observations that probe both inside and outside of molecular absorption features.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

DUST FORMATION IN MACRONOVAE

We examine dust formation in macronovae (as known as kilonovae), which are the bright ejecta of neutron star binary mergers and one of the leading sites of r-process nucleosynthesis. In light of information about the first macronova candidate associated with GRB 130603B, we find that dust grains of r-process elements have difficulty forming because of the low number density of the r-process atoms, while carbon or elements lighter than iron can condense into dust if they are abundant. Dust grains absorb emission from ejecta with an opacity even greater than that of the r-process elements, and re-emit photons at infrared wavelengths. Such dust emission can potentially account for macronovae without r-process nucleosynthesis as an alternative model. This dust scenario predicts a spectrum with fewer features than the r-process model and day-scale optical-to-ultraviolet emission.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗