Abstract We have used data from the UKIRT Hemisphere Survey to search for substellar members of the Hyades cluster. Our search recovered several known substellar Hyades members, and two known brown dwarfs that we suggest may be members based on a new kinematic analysis. We uncovered thirteen new substellar Hyades candidates, and obtained near-infrared follow-up spectroscopy of each with IRTF/SpeX. Six candidates with spectral types between M7 and L0 are ruled out as potential members based on their photometric distances (≳100 pc). The remaining seven candidates, with spectral types between L5 and T4, are all potential Hyades members, with five showing strong membership probabilities based on BANYAN Σ and a convergent point analysis. Distances and radial velocities are still needed to confirm Hyades membership. If confirmed, these would be some of the lowest mass free-floating members of the Hyades yet known, with masses as low as ∼30 M Jup . An analysis of all known substellar Hyades candidates shows evidence that the full extent of the Hyades has yet to be probed for low-mass members, and more would likely be recovered with deeper photometric and astrometric investigations.
Quasometry is precision measurement of celestial positions and apparent motion of very distant extragalactic objects, such as quasars, galactic nuclei, and QSOs. We use this term to identify a specific area of research, the methodology of which differs from that of general astrometry. The main purpose of quasometry is to link the sub-milliarcsecond radio frame (ICRF) with the existing and emerging optical reference frames of similar accuracy, constructed by astrometric satellites. Some of the main difficulties in achieving this goal are discussed, e.g., the extended structures of quasar hosts, apparent motion on the sky, optical variability, galactic companions, faintness. Besides the strategic purpose, quasometry is undoubtedly useful for global astrometric surveys, as it helps to verify or even correct the resulting reference frames. There are two options of using measurements of distant quasars in a global astrometric solution: 1) hard constraints embedded in the fabric of observational equations; 2) {\it a posteriori} fitting of zonal errors. The relative benefits and shortcoming of the two options are reviewed. A relatively small set of about 200 carefully selected reference quasars can go a long way in improving the astrometric value of a space mission, if they are sufficiently bright, stable, fairly uniformly distributed on the sky, and are defining sources in the ICRF. We present an ongoing program at the USNO to construct a quality set of optical quasars with the required properties and to enhance the ICRF with new sources in the areas where known, well-observed quasars are scarce.
The Origins Billions Star Survey is a mission concept addressing the astrophysics of extrasolar planets, Galactic structure, the Galactic halo and tidal streams, the Local Group and local supercluster of galaxies, dark matter, star formation, open clusters, the solar system, and the celestial reference frame by determining the position, parallax, and proper motion, as well as photometry, for billions of stars down to 23rd visual magnitude. It is capable of surveying the entire celestial sphere or dwelling on a star field by varying the cadence of observations. The mission's ability to measure objects fainter than 17th magnitude allows a large number of extragalactic compact objects to be observed, making the astrometric measurements absolute. The project mission accuracy is comparable to Gaia for a survey mission. Improved accuracy can be achieved by dwelling on a particular star field or by using the Gaia positions at 14th magnitude to improve the positions of objects at the 18th–23rd visual magnitudes.
The Backgrounds Data Center (BDC) is the designated archive for backgrounds data collected by Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) programs, some of which include ultraviolet sensors. Currently, the BDC holds ultraviolet data from the IBSS, UVPI, UVLIM, and FUVCAM sensors. The BDC will also be the prime archive for Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX) data and is prepared to negotiate with program managers to handle other datasets. The purpose of the BDC is to make data accessible to users and to assist them in analyzing it. The BDC maintains the Science Catalog Information Exchange System (SCIES) allowing remote users to log in, read or post notices about current programs, search the catalogs for datasets of interest, and submit orders for data. On-site facilities are also available for the analysis of data, and consist of VMS and UNIX workstations with access to software analysis packages such as IDL, IRAF, and Khoros. Either on-site or remotely, users can employ the BDC-developed graphical user interface called the Visual Interface for Space and Terrestrial Analysis (VISTA) to generate catalog queries and to display and analyze data. SCIES and VISTA permit nearly complete access to BDC services and capabilities without the need to be physically present at the data center.
We report astrometric measurements of η Carinae's Weigelt blobs C and D (also known as speckle objects C and D) derived from observations with the Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Planetary Camera 2. Using three epochs of data with a temporal baseline of 5.9 yr, we measure blob D's proper motion relative to the central star to be 4.4 ± 1.4 mas yr-1, implying a date of origin of 1934.1. Similarly, using two epochs with a 1.7 yr baseline, we measure blob C's relative proper motion to be 3.8 ± 5.6 mas yr-1, indicating a probability of ejection after 1910 of ≈60%; we view this as confirming the more accurate blob D results (assuming coevality), with a combined post-1910 ejection indicated at a ≈90% confidence level. The blob D date roughly coincides with the sudden brightening of the central star observed in 1941 and provides a possible explanation for the onset of certain narrow spectral features, associated with the Weigelt blobs, that have been observed only since the mid-1940s. We propose that the ejection of Weigelt blobs C and D was related to this 1941 event.
The VLBI USNO 2016A (U16A) solution is part of a work-in-progress effort by USNO towards the preparation of the ICRF3. Most of the astrometric improvement with respect to the ICRF2 is due to the re-observation of the VCS sources. Our objective in this paper is to assess U16A's astrometry. A comparison with ICRF2 shows statistically significant offsets of size 0.1 mas between the two solutions. While Gaia DR1 positions are not precise enough to resolve these offsets, they are found to be significantly closer to U16A than ICRF2. In particular, the trend for typically larger errors for Southern sources in VLBI solutions are decreased in U16A. Overall, the VLBI-Gaia offsets are reduced by 21%. The U16A list includes 718 sources not previously included in ICRF2. Twenty of those new sources have statistically significant radio-optical offsets. In two-thirds of the cases, these offsets can be explained from PanSTARRS images.
We present follow-up results from the first Fundamental Reference AGN Monitoring Experiment (FRAMEx) X-ray/radio snapshot program of a volume-complete sample of local hard X-ray-selected active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Here, we added 9 new sources to our previous volume-complete snapshot campaign, two of which are detected in the 6 cm Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) observations. We also obtained deeper VLBA observations for a sample of 9 AGNs not detected by our previous snapshot campaign. We recovered 3 sources with approximately twice the observing sensitivity. In contrast with lower angular resolution Very Large Array (VLA) studies, the majority of our sources continue to be undetected with the VLBA. The sub-parsec radio (6 cm) and X-ray (2-10 keV) emission show no significant correlation, with L_R/L_X ranging from 10^-8 to 10^-4, and the majority of our sample lies well below the fiducial 10^-5 relationship for coronal synchrotron emission. Additionally, our sources are not aligned with any of the proposed "fundamental" planes of black hole activity, which purport to unify black hole accretion in the M_BH-L_X-L_R parameter space. The new detections in our deeper observations suggest that the radio emission may be produced by the synchrotron radiation of particles accelerated in low luminosity outflows. Non-detections may be a result of synchrotron self-absorption at 6 cm in the radio core, similar to what has been observed in X-ray binaries (XRBs) transitioning from the radiatively inefficient state to a radiatively efficient state.
