Massive stars exploding in a He-rich circumstellar medium
Astronomy & Astrophysics EDP Sciences 707 (2026) a157
Abstract:
We present a photometric and spectroscopic analyses of the Type Ibn supernova (SN) 2024acyl. It rises to an absolute magnitude peak of M o = 鈭17.58 卤 0.15 mag in 10.6 days, and displays a rapid linear post-peak light-curve decline in all bands (e.g. 纬 0 鈭 60 ( V ) = 0.097 卤 0.002 mag day 鈭1 ), similar to most SNe Ibn. The optical pseudobolometric light curve peaks at (3.5 卤 0.8)脳10 42 erg s 鈭1 , with a total radiated energy of (5.0 卤 0.4)脳10 48 erg. The spectra are dominated by a blue continuum at early stages, with narrow P-Cygni He鈥 I lines and flash-ionisation emission lines of C鈥 III , N鈥 III , and He鈥 II . The P-Cygni He鈥 I features gradually evolve and become emission-dominated in late-time spectra. The H 伪 line is detected throughout the entire spectral evolution, which indicates that the circumstellar material (CSM) is helium-rich with some residual amount of hydrogen. Our multi-band light-curve modelling yields estimates of the ejecta mass of M ej = 0.49 +0.11 鈭0.09 M 鈯 with a kinetic energy of E k = 0.06 +0.01 鈭0.01 脳 10 51 erg, and a 56 Ni mass of M Ni = 0.018 M 鈯 . The inferred CSM properties are characterised by a mass of M CSM = 0.51 +0.05 鈭0.04 M 鈯 , an inner radius of R 0 =17.8 +3.6 鈭3.0 AU, and a density of 蟻 CSM = (8.3 +2.7 鈭1.2 ) 脳 10 鈭12 g cn 鈭3 . The multi-epoch spectra are well reproduced by the CMFGEN/ he4p0 model, corresponding to a He-ZAMS mass of 4 M 鈯 (H-ZAMS mass 18.11 M 鈯 , pre-SN mass 3.16 M 鈯 ). These findings are consistent with a scenario of an SN powered by ejecta-CSM interaction originating from a low-mass helium star that evolved within an interacting binary system where the CSM with some residual hydrogen may originate from the mass-transfer process. We also discuss an extreme scenario involving the possible merger of a helium white dwarf. In addition, a channel of core-collapse explosion of a late-type Wolf-Rayet (WR) star with hydrogen, or a transitional star between an Of and a WR type (e.g. an Ofpe/WN9 star) with fallback accretion cannot be entirely ruled out.SN 2024hpj: A perspective on SN 2009ip-like events
Astronomy & Astrophysics EDP Sciences 707 (2026) a80
Abstract:
Supernovae (SNe) IIn are terminal explosions of massive stars that are surrounded by a dense circumstellar medium (CSM). Among SNe IIn, a notable subset is the SN 2009ip-like, which exhibits an initial, fainter peak attributed to stellar variability in the late evolutionary stages, followed by a brighter peak, interpreted as the SN explosion itself. In this context, we analysed the spectrophotometric evolution of SN 2024hpj, an object with a triple-peaked light curve and spectra typical of a SN IIn but with a complex line profile composed of broad P-Cygni features topped by narrow emissions. Comparing it with other SN 2009ip-like events in the literature, as well as with other unpublished objects (SNe 2019mry, 2022ytx, 2024uzf, and 2025csc), we identify star-forming regions as their preferred formation environment. On the other hand, the diversity of spectrophotometric features within the sample suggests that variations in CSM mass and distribution may influence the observed characteristics. We identify four sub-classes based on the luminosity and rapidity of the light curve evolution, which provides insights into possible differences in the progenitors, while a statistical analysis of their observed rate indicates progenitor masses around 25 鈭 31 M 鈯 or lower.The LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey
Astronomy & Astrophysics EDP Sciences 707 (2026) a198
Abstract:
We present the third data release of the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS-DR3). The survey images cover 88% of the northern sky and were created from 12 950 h of data (18.6 PB) accumulated over 10.5 years. Producing the images took 20 million core hours of processing through direction-independent and direction-dependent calibration pipelines that correct for instrumental effects as well as spatially and temporally varying ionospheric distortions. In our 120鈥168 MHz continuum mosaic images with an angular resolution of 6鈥 (9鈥 below declination 10掳) we catalogue 13 667 877 sources, formed from 16 943 656 Gaussian components. The scatter in the astrometric precision approximately follows the expected noise-like behaviour but with an additional systematic component of at least 0.24鈥 that is likely due to calibration imperfections. The random flux density scale error is 6%, while the systematic offset was previously shown to be within 2%. The median sensitivity of our mosaics is 92 渭Jy beam 鈭1 , improving to 68 渭Jy beam 鈭1 at high observing elevations, but degrading to 183 渭Jy beam 鈭1 at the celestial equator due to station area projection effects. Completeness simulations, accounting for realistic source models, time- and bandwidth-smearing effects, and astrometric errors, indicate that we detect more than 95% of compact sources with integrated flux densities exceeding 9 times the local root mean square (RMS) noise. However, the recovered source counts in a particular integrated flux density bin do not match the injected counts until flux densities exceed 45 times the local RMS noise. The Euclidean-normalised differential source counts derived from the survey constrain the radio source population over five orders of magnitude and are in good agreement with previous deep and wide-area surveys. All data products are publicly available, including catalogues, individual-field Stokes I , Q , U , and V images, mosaicked Stokes I images, and uv data with associated direction-dependent calibration solutions.MIGHTEE HI observations of low surface brightness and ultra-diffuse galaxies in the XMM-LSS field
Astronomy & Astrophysics EDP Sciences (2026)
Abstract:
Untargeted neutral hydrogen ( > 1.5 kpc) to be ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs). Furthermore, we extracted surveys are well suited to identifying low surface brightness galaxies (LSBGs) that are gas rich, and they offer a complementary view to optically selected populations. We examined the LSBG population as identified via stellar and gaseous content using the MIGHTEE XMM-LSS early science data and the publicly available catalogs of optically identified LSBGs. There is currently little overlap between these datasets, with only three galaxies commonly detected. We performed surface brightness photometry of selected MIGHTEE detections to find 29 LSBGs, and 26 of these meet the size requirement (R_ eff spectra at the location of all optically identified galaxies, placing upper limits on the mass ratio in these systems. While the population overall tends toward bluer colors, the and the optically selected samples mostly overlap in mean effective surface brightness, effective radii, and color. Although it is not straightforward to discern why the LSBGs were missed in optical searches, this work highlights the utility of surveys in finding these faint systems. The LSBGs are gas rich compared to the general population. Furthermore, three out of four UDGs with available kinematics show no systematic offset from the baryonic Tully-Fisher relation, although we are biased away from sources with low rotational velocities due to the low spectral resolution of the data. This work demonstrates the utility of observations for finding and characterizing the low surface brightness Universe.Sensitivity of the Hyper-Kamiokande experiment to neutrino oscillation parameters using accelerator neutrinos
European Physical Journal C Springer Nature 86:2 (2026) 170