# The non-linear onset of neutrino-driven convection in two and three-dimensional core-collapse supernovae [SSA]

A toy model of the post-shock region of core-collapse supernovae is used to study the non-linear development of turbulent motions driven by convection in the presence of advection. Our numerical simulations indicate that buoyant perturbations of density are able to trigger self-sustained convection only when the instability is not linearly stabilized by advection. Large amplitude perturbations produced by strong shock oscillations or combustion inhomogeneities before the collapse of the progenitor are efficiently shredded through phase mixing and generate a turbulent cascade. Our model enables us to investigate several physical arguments that had been proposed to explain the impact of the dimensionality on the onset of explosions in global simulations of core-collapse supernovae. In three-dimensional simulations, we find that turbulent mixing and dissipation of the kinetic energy produce a significant increase of the heating which is barely seen in our two-dimensional models. These results suggest that the three-dimensional nature of convection may ease the onset of the explosion. Increasing the numerical resolution is found to be mostly promising to support explosions in 3D simulations that contain large amplitude perturbations.

R. Kazeroni, B. Krueger, J. Guilet, et. al.
Fri, 23 Feb 18
45/64

Comments: 23 pages, 18 figures, submitted to MNRAS

# The Intricate Structure of HH 508, the Brightest Microjet in the Orion Nebula [SSA]

We present Magellan adaptive optics H$\alpha$ imaging of HH 508, which has the highest surface brightness among protostellar jets in the Orion Nebula. We find that HH 508 actually has a shorter component to the west, and a longer and knotty component to the east. The east component has a kink at 0.3″ from the jet-driving star $\theta^1$ Ori B2, so it may have been deflected by the wind/radiation from the nearby $\theta^1$ Ori B1B5. The origin of both components is unclear, but if each of them is a separate jet, then $\theta^1$ Ori B2 may be a tight binary. Alternatively, HH 508 may be a slow-moving outflow, and each component represents an illuminated cavity wall. The ionization front surrounding $\theta^1$ Ori B2B3 does not directly face $\theta^1$ Ori B1B5, suggesting that the EUV radiation from $\theta^1$ Ori C plays a dominant role in affecting the morphology of proplyds even in the vicinity of $\theta^1$ Ori B1B5. Finally, we report an H$\alpha$ blob that might be ejected by the binary proplyd LV 1.

Y. Wu, L. Close, J. Kim, et. al.
Fri, 23 Feb 18
48/64

Comments: 4 pages. Published in ApJ

# Possible Photometric Signatures of Moderately Advanced Civilizations: The Clarke Exobelt [EPA]

This paper puts forward a possible new indicator for the presence of moderately advanced civilizations on transiting exoplanets. The idea is to examine the region of space around a planet where potential geostationary or geosynchronous satellites would orbit (herafter, the Clarke exobelt). Civilizations with a high density of devices and/or space junk in that region, but otherwise similar to ours in terms of space technology (our working definition of “moderately advanced”), may leave a noticeable imprint on the light curve of the parent star. The main contribution to such signature comes from the exobelt edge, where its opacity is maximum due to geometrical projection. Numerical simulations have been conducted for a variety of possible scenarios. In some cases, a Clarke exobelt with a fractional face-on opacity of ~1E-4 would be easily observable with existing instrumentation. Simulations of Clarke exobelts and natural rings are used to quantify how they can be distinguished by their light curve.

H. Socas-Navarro
Fri, 23 Feb 18
56/64

Comments: Accepted for publication in ApJ

# An Observationally-Constrained Model of a Flux Rope that Formed in the Solar Corona [SSA]

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are large-scale eruptions of plasma from the coronae of stars. Understanding the plasma processes involved in CME initiation has applications to space weather forecasting and laboratory plasma experiments. James et al. (Sol. Phys. 292, 71, 2017) used EUV observations to conclude that a magnetic flux rope formed in the solar corona above NOAA Active Region 11504 before it erupted on 14 June 2012 (SOL2012-06-14). In this work, we use data from the Solar Dynamics Observatory to model the coronal magnetic field of the active region one hour prior to eruption using a nonlinear force-free field extrapolation, and find a flux rope reaching a maximum height of 150 Mm above the photosphere. Estimations of the average twist of the strongly asymmetric extrapolated flux rope are between 1.35 and 1.88 turns, depending on the choice of axis, although the erupting structure was not observed to kink. The decay index near the apex of the axis of the extrapolated flux rope is comparable to typical critical values required for the onset of the torus instability, so we suggest that the torus instability drove the eruption.

A. James, G. Valori, L. Green, et. al.
Fri, 23 Feb 18
59/64

Comments: 8 pages, 5 figures

# Type IIP supernova light curves affected by the acceleration of red supergiant winds [HEAP]

We introduce the first synthetic light-curve model set of Type IIP supernovae exploded within circumstellar media in which the acceleration of the red supergiant winds is taken into account. Because wind acceleration makes the wind velocities near the progenitors low, the density of the immediate vicinity of the red supergiant supernova progenitors can be higher than that extrapolated by using a constant terminal wind velocity. Therefore, even if the mass-loss rate of the progenitor is relatively low, it can have a dense circumstellar medium at the immediate stellar vicinity and the early light curves of Type IIP supernovae are significantly affected by it. We adopt a simple beta velocity law to formulate the wind acceleration. We provide bolometric and multicolor light curves of Type IIP supernovae exploding within such accelerated winds from the combinations of three progenitors, 12 – 16 Msun; five beta, 1-5; seven mass-loss rates, 1e-5 – 1e-2 Msun/yr; and four explosion energies, 0.5e51 – 2e51 erg. All the light curve models are available at https://goo.gl/o5phYb. When the circumstellar density is sufficiently high, our models do not show a classical shock breakout as a consequence of the interaction with the dense and optically-thick circumstellar media. Instead, they show a delayed ‘wind breakout’, substantially affecting early light curves of Type IIP supernovae. We find that the mass-loss rates of the progenitors need to be 1e-3 – 1e-2 Msun/yr to explain typical rise times of 5 – 10 days in Type IIP supernovae assuming a dense circumstellar radius of 1e15 cm.

T. Moriya, F. Forster, S. Yoon, et. al.
Fri, 23 Feb 18
63/64

Comments: 12 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables, accepted by Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

# Axisymmetric inertial modes in a spherical shell at low Ekman numbers [CL]

We investigate the asymptotic properties of axisymmetric inertial modes propagating in a spherical shell when viscosity tends to zero. We identify three kinds of eigenmodes whose eigenvalues follow very different laws as the Ekman number $E$ becomes very small. First are modes associated with attractors of characteristics that are made of thin shear layers closely following the periodic orbit traced by the characteristic attractor. Second are modes made of shear layers that connect the critical latitude singularities of the two hemispheres of the inner boundary of the spherical shell. Third are quasi-regular modes associated with the frequency of neutral periodic orbits of characteristics. We thoroughly analyse a subset of attractor modes for which numerical solutions point to an asymptotic law governing the eigenvalues. We show that three length scales proportional to $E^{1/6}$, $E^{1/4}$ and $E^{1/3}$ control the shape of the shear layers that are associated with these modes. These scales point out the key role of the small parameter $E^{1/12}$ in these oscillatory flows. With a simplified model of the viscous Poincar\’e equation, we can give an approximate analytical formula that reproduces the velocity field in such shear layers. Finally, we also present an analysis of the quasi-regular modes whose frequencies are close to $\sin(\pi/4)$ and explain why a fluid inside a spherical shell cannot respond to any periodic forcing at this frequency when viscosity vanishes.

M. Rieutord and L. Valdettaro
Thu, 22 Feb 18
12/60

Comments: 38 pages, 25 figures, to appear in J. Fluid Mechanics

# The Updated BaSTI Stellar Evolution Models and Isochrones: I. Solar Scaled Calculations [GA]

We present an updated release of the BaSTI (a Bag of Stellar Tracks and Isochrones) stellar model and isochrone library for a solar scaled heavy element distribution. The main input physics changed from the previous BaSTI release include the solar metal mixture, electron conduction opacities, a few nuclear reaction rates, bolometric corrections, and the treatment of the overshooting efficiency for shrinking convective cores. The new model calculations cover a mass range between 0.1 and 15 Msun, 22 initial chemical compositions between [Fe/H]=-3.20 and +0.45, with helium to metal enrichment ratio dY /dZ=1.31. The isochrones cover an age range between 20 Myr and 14.5 Gyr, take consistently into account the pre-main sequence phase, and have been translated to a large number of popular photometric systems. Asteroseismic properties of the theoretical models have also been calculated. We compare our isochrones with results from independent databases and with several sets of observations, to test the accuracy of the calculations. All stellar evolution tracks, asteroseismic properties and isochrones are made available through a dedicated Web site.

S. Hidalgo, A. Pietrinferni, S. Cassisi, et. al.
Thu, 22 Feb 18
15/60

Comments: 31 pages, 28 figures. Accepted to be published in ApJ Stellar evolution library available at: this http URL and this https URL