ALBERT

Description: We present optical and near-infrared photometry and spectroscopy of the Type IIn supernova, (SN) 2014ab, obtained by the Carnegie Supernova Project II and initiated immediately after its optical discovery. We also study public mid-infrared photometry obtained by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer satellite extending from 56 days prior to the optical discovery to over 1600 days. The light curve of SN 2014ab evolves slowly, while the spectra exhibit strong emission features produced from the interaction between rapidly expanding ejecta and dense circumstellar matter. The light curve and spectral properties are very similar to those of SN 2010jl. The estimated mass-loss rate of the progenitor of SN 2014ab is of the order of 0.1 M⊙ yr−1 under the assumption of spherically symmetric circumstellar matter and steady mass loss. Although the mid-infrared luminosity increases due to emission from dust, which is characterized by a blackbody temperature close to the dust evaporation temperature (∼2000 K), there were no clear signatures of in situ dust formation observed within the cold dense shell located behind the forward shock in SN 2014ab in the early phases. Mid-infrared emission of SN 2014ab may originate from pre-existing dust located within dense circumstellar matter that is heated by the SN shock or shock-driven radiation. Finally, for the benefit of the community, we also present five near-infrared spectra of SN 2010jl obtained between 450 to 1300 days post-discovery in the appendix.

Description: SN 2013dy is a Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) for which we have compiled an extraordinary data set spanning from 0.1 to ~ 500 d after explosion. We present 10 epochs of ultraviolet (UV) through near-infrared (NIR) spectra with Hubble Space Telescope /Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, 47 epochs of optical spectra (15 of them having high resolution), and more than 500 photometric observations in the BVrRiIZYJH bands. SN 2013dy has a broad and slowly declining light curve ( m 15 ( B ) = 0.92 mag), shallow $\mathrm{Si}\,\small {II}\,\lambda 6355$ absorption, and a low velocity gradient. We detect strong C ii in our earliest spectra, probing unburned progenitor material in the outermost layers of the SN ejecta, but this feature fades within a few days. The UV continuum of SN 2013dy, which is strongly affected by the metal abundance of the progenitor star, suggests that SN 2013dy had a relatively high-metallicity progenitor. Examining one of the largest single set of high-resolution spectra for an SN Ia, we find no evidence of variable absorption from circumstellar material. Combining our UV spectra, NIR photometry, and high-cadence optical photometry, we construct a bolometric light curve, showing that SN 2013dy had a maximum luminosity of $10.0^{+4.8}_{-3.8} \times 10^{42}$  erg s –1 . We compare the synthetic light curves and spectra of several models to SN 2013dy, finding that SN 2013dy is in good agreement with a solar-metallicity W7 model.

Description: Microphthalmia-associated transcription factor ( MITF ) is a master regulator of pigmented cell survival and differentiation with direct transcriptional links to cell cycle, apoptosis and pigmentation. In mouse, Mitf is expressed early and uniformly in optic vesicle (OV) cells as they evaginate from the developing neural tube, and null Mitf mutations result in microphthalmia and pigmentation defects. However, homozygous mutations in MITF have not been identified in humans; therefore, little is known about its role in human retinogenesis. We used a human embryonic stem cell (hESC) model that recapitulates numerous aspects of retinal development, including OV specification and formation of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and neural retina progenitor cells (NRPCs), to investigate the earliest roles of MITF. During hESC differentiation toward a retinal lineage, a subset of MITF isoforms was expressed in a sequence and tissue distribution similar to that observed in mice. In addition, we found that promoters for the MITF-A , -D and -H isoforms were directly targeted by Visual Systems Homeobox 2 (VSX2), a transcription factor involved in patterning the OV toward a NRPC fate. We then manipulated MITF RNA and protein levels at early developmental stages and observed decreased expression of eye field transcription factors, reduced early OV cell proliferation and disrupted RPE maturation. This work provides a foundation for investigating MITF and other highly complex, multi-purposed transcription factors in a dynamic human developmental model system.

Description: The Solar Orbiter mission seeks to make connections between the physical processes occurring at the Sun or in the solar corona and the nature of the solar wind created by those processes which is subsequently observed at the spacecraft. The mission also targets physical processes occurring in the solar wind itself during its journey from its source to the spacecraft. To meet the specific mission science goals, Solar Orbiter will be equipped with both remote-sensing and in-situ instruments which will make unprecedented measurements of the solar atmosphere and the inner heliosphere. A crucial set of measurements will be provided by the Solar Wind Analyser (SWA) suite of instruments. This suite consists of an Electron Analyser System (SWA-EAS), a Proton and Alpha particle Sensor (SWA-PAS), and a Heavy Ion Sensor (SWA-HIS) which are jointly served by a central control and data processing unit (SWA-DPU). Together these sensors will measure and categorise the vast majority of thermal and suprathermal ions and electrons in the solar wind and determine the abundances and charge states of the heavy ion populations. The three sensors in the SWA suite are each based on the top hat electrostatic analyser concept, which has been deployed on numerous space plasma missions. The SWA-EAS uses two such heads, each of which have 360° azimuth acceptance angles and ±45° aperture deflection plates. Together these two sensors, which are mounted on the end of the boom, will cover a full sky field-of-view (FoV) (except for blockages by the spacecraft and its appendages) and measure the full 3D velocity distribution function (VDF) of solar wind electrons in the energy range of a few eV to ∼5 keV. The SWA-PAS instrument also uses an electrostatic analyser with a more confined FoV (−24° to +42° × ±22.5° around the expected solar wind arrival direction), which nevertheless is capable of measuring the full 3D VDF of the protons and alpha particles arriving at the instrument in the energy range from 200 eV/q to 20 keV/e. Finally, SWA-HIS measures the composition and 3D VDFs of heavy ions in the bulk solar wind as well as those of the major constituents in the suprathermal energy range and those of pick-up ions. The sensor resolves the full 3D VDFs of the prominent heavy ions at a resolution of 5 min in normal mode and 30 s in burst mode. Additionally, SWA-HIS measures 3D VDFs of alpha particles at a 4 s resolution in burst mode. Measurements are over a FoV of −33° to +66° × ±20° around the expected solar wind arrival direction and at energies up to 80 keV/e. The mass resolution (m/Δm) is 〉 5. This paper describes how the three SWA scientific sensors, as delivered to the spacecraft, meet or exceed the performance requirements originally set out to achieve the mission’s science goals. We describe the motivation and specific requirements for each of the three sensors within the SWA suite, their expected science results, their main characteristics, and their operation through the central SWA-DPU. We describe the combined data products that we expect to return from the suite and provide to the Solar Orbiter Archive for use in scientific analyses by members of the wider solar and heliospheric communities. These unique data products will help reveal the nature of the solar wind as a function of both heliocentric distance and solar latitude. Indeed, SWA-HIS measurements of solar wind composition will be the first such measurements made in the inner heliosphere. The SWA data are crucial to efforts to link the in situ measurements of the solar wind made at the spacecraft with remote observations of candidate source regions. This is a novel aspect of the mission which will lead to significant advances in our understanding of the mechanisms accelerating and heating the solar wind, driving eruptions and other transient phenomena on the Sun, and controlling the injection, acceleration, and transport of the energetic particles in the heliosphere.

Description: We use observed UV through near-IR spectra to examine whether SN 2011fe can be understood in the framework of Branch-normal Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) and to examine its individual peculiarities. As a benchmark, we use a delayed-detonation model with a progenitor metallicity of Z /20. We study the sensitivity of features to variations in progenitor metallicity, the outer density profile, and the distribution of radioactive nickel. The effect of metallicity variations in the progenitor have a relatively small effect on the synthetic spectra. We also find that the abundance stratification of SN 2011fe resembles closely that of a delayed-detonation model with a transition density that has been fit to other Branch-normal SNe Ia. At early times, the model photosphere is formed in material with velocities that are too high, indicating that the photosphere recedes too slowly or that SN 2011fe has a lower specific energy in the outer 0.1 M than does the model. We discuss several explanations for the discrepancies. Finally, we examine variations in both the spectral energy distribution and in the colours due to variations in the progenitor metallicity, which suggests that colours are only weak indicators for the progenitor metallicity, in the particular explosion model that we have studied. We do find that the flux in the U band is significantly higher at maximum light in the solar metallicity model than in the lower metallicity model and the lower metallicity model much better matches the observed spectrum.

Description: SUMMARY We captured post-seismic deformation close to the surface rupture of the 2009 L’Aquila earthquake ( M 6.3, central Italy) using repeat terrestrial laser scan (TLS) methods. From 8 to 126 d after the earthquake, we repeatedly laser scanned four road surfaces that intersected the earthquake surface rupture. We modelled vertical near-field deformation, at millimetre-level precision, by comparing subsequent laser scan data sets to the first acquired at each site. The horizontal post-seismic deformation at each site was measured between reflectors paired across the rupture. The TLS data were supplemented by total station data from a fifth site which measured the vertical and horizontal components of post-seismic deformation between two points spanning the rupture. We find post-seismic deformation increased between 44 and 126 d at the southeastern end of the rupture, beneath which a significant gradient in coseismic slip exists within the fault zone. The location, rate of decay and spatially-localized nature of the post-seismic deformation, within tens of metres of the surface rupture suggests it is due to afterslip in the fault zone, driven by increased shear stresses at the edges of regions which slipped coseismically. We note that the magnitude of post-seismic deformation in the far field obtained from InSAR and GPS is not significantly greater than the deformations we have measured close to the rupture. We suggest that shallow, localized afterslip within the fault zone is responsible for the majority of the regional post-seismic deformation field.

Description: Permafrost represents a largely understudied genetic resource. Thawing of permafrost with global warming will not only promote microbial carbon turnover with direct feedback on greenhouse gases, but also unlock an unknown microbial diversity. Pioneering metagenomic efforts have shed light on the permafrost microbiome in polar regions, but temperate mountain permafrost is largely understudied. We applied a unique experimental design coupled to high-throughput sequencing of ribosomal markers to characterize the microbiota at the long-term alpine permafrost study site ‘Muot-da-Barba-Peider’ in eastern Switzerland with an approximate radiocarbon age of 12 000 years. Compared to the active layers, the permafrost community was more diverse and enriched with members of the superphylum Patescibacteria (OD1, TM7, GN02 and OP11). These understudied phyla with no cultured representatives proposedly feature small streamlined genomes with reduced metabolic capabilities, adaptations to anaerobic fermentative metabolisms and potential ectosymbiotic lifestyles. The permafrost microbiota was also enriched with yeasts and lichenized fungi known to harbour various structural and functional adaptation mechanisms to survive under extreme sub-zero conditions. These data yield an unprecedented view on microbial life in temperate mountain permafrost, which is increasingly important for understanding the biological dynamics of permafrost in order to anticipate potential ecological trajectories in a warming world.

Description: We present ultraviolet, optical, near-infrared photometry and spectroscopy of SN 2009N in NGC 4487. This object is a Type II-P supernova with spectra resembling those of subluminous II-P supernovae, while its bolometric luminosity is similar to that of the intermediate-luminosity SN 2008in. We created synow models of the plateau phase spectra for line identification and to measure the expansion velocity. In the near-infrared spectra we find signs indicating possible weak interaction between the supernova ejecta and the pre-existing circumstellar material. These signs are also present in the previously unpublished near-infrared spectra of SN 2008in. The distance to SN 2009N is determined via the expanding photosphere method and the standard candle method as D  = 21.6 ± 1.1 Mpc. The produced nickel-mass is estimated to be ~0.020 ± 0.004 M . We infer the physical properties of the progenitor at the explosion through hydrodynamical modelling of the observables. We find the values of the total energy as ~0.48 10 51  erg, the ejected mass as ~11.5 M , and the initial radius as ~287 R .

Description: In classical P-Cygni profiles, theory predicts emission to peak at zero rest velocity. However, supernova spectra exhibit emission that is generally blueshifted. While this characteristic has been reported in many SNe, it is rarely discussed in any detail. Here, we present an analysis of Hα emission peaks using a data set of 95 Type II supernovae, quantifying their strength and time evolution. Using a post-explosion time of 30 d, we observe a systematic blueshift of Hα emission, with a mean value of –2000 km s –1 . This offset is greatest at early times but vanishes as supernovae become nebular. Simulations of Dessart et al. match the observed behaviour, reproducing both its strength and evolution in time. Such blueshifts are a fundamental feature of supernova spectra as they are intimately tied to the density distribution of ejecta, which falls more rapidly than in stellar winds. This steeper density structure causes line emission/absorption to be much more confined; it also exacerbates the occultation of the receding part of the ejecta, biasing line emission to the blue for a distant observer. We conclude that blueshifted emission-peak offsets of several thousand km s –1 are a generic property of observations, confirmed by models, of photospheric-phase Type II supernovae.

Description: SUMMARY We captured post-seismic deformation close to the surface rupture of the 2009 L’Aquila earthquake ( M 6.3, central Italy) using repeat terrestrial laser scan (TLS) methods. From 8 to 126 d after the earthquake, we repeatedly laser scanned four road surfaces that intersected the earthquake surface rupture. We modelled vertical near-field deformation, at millimetre-level precision, by comparing subsequent laser scan data sets to the first acquired at each site. The horizontal post-seismic deformation at each site was measured between reflectors paired across the rupture. The TLS data were supplemented by total station data from a fifth site which measured the vertical and horizontal components of post-seismic deformation between two points spanning the rupture. We find post-seismic deformation increased between 44 and 126 d at the southeastern end of the rupture, beneath which a significant gradient in coseismic slip exists within the fault zone. The location, rate of decay and spatially-localized nature of the post-seismic deformation, within tens of metres of the surface rupture suggests it is due to afterslip in the fault zone, driven by increased shear stresses at the edges of regions which slipped coseismically. We note that the magnitude of post-seismic deformation in the far field obtained from InSAR and GPS is not significantly greater than the deformations we have measured close to the rupture. We suggest that shallow, localized afterslip within the fault zone is responsible for the majority of the regional post-seismic deformation field.