We present a comprehensive multiwavelength analysis of the long-duration gamma-ray burst (GRB) 250424A. Our dataset spans from the prompt gamma-ray emission to late-time optical monitoring, including spectra obtained with the Keck 10\,m telescope. We find that the afterglow light curves display a prominent, simultaneous shallow decay phase in both X-ray and optical bands, followed by an achromatic transition to a standard decay regime. The broadband spectral energy distributions are well-modeled by a single power-law function, indicating a common synchrotron origin for the emission across frequencies. We interpret the afterglow evolution within the framework of a relativistic forward shock refreshed by continuous energy injection. This scenario successfully reproduces the observed temporal and spectral behavior, yielding an isotropic equivalent kinetic energy of $E_{\rm K,iso} \approx 5.5 \times 10^{52}$ erg and an injection index of $q\approx 0.34$ in a constant-density circumburst environment. The shallow decay phase is consistent with sustained energy injection lasting $\sim$ 9 ks. Despite the relatively low redshift, late-time optical observations reveal no distinct supernova component; however, our derived upper limits do not strictly rule out the presence of a typical GRB-associated supernova.

We present early multiwavelength photometric and spectroscopic observations of the Type IIb supernova SN 2024uwq, capturing its shock-cooling emission phase and double-peaked light-curve evolution. Early spectra reveal broad H α ( v ∼ 15,500 km s ^−1 ) and He I P Cygni profiles of similar strengths. Over time the He I lines increase in strength while the H α decreases, consistent with a hydrogen envelope ( M _env = 0.7–1.35 M _⊙ ) overlying helium-rich ejecta. Analytic modeling of early shock cooling emission and bolometric light analysis constrains the progenitor to a partially stripped star with radius R = 10–60 R _⊙ , consistent with a blue/yellow supergiant with an initial zero-age main-sequence mass of 12–20 M _⊙ likely stripped via binary interaction. SN 2024uwq occupies a transitional position between compact and extended Type IIb supernovae, highlighting the role of binary mass transfer efficiency in shaping a continuum of stripped-envelope progenitors. Our results underscore the importance of early UV/optical observations to characterize shock breakout signatures critical to map the diversity in evolutionary pathways of massive stars. Upcoming time-domain surveys, including Rubin Observatory’s LSST and UV missions like ULTRASAT and UVEX, will revolutionize our ability to systematically capture these early signatures, probing the full diversity of stripped progenitors and their explosive endpoints.

If Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) result from a white dwarf being ignited by Roche-lobe overflow from a nondegenerate companion, then as the SN explosion runs into the companion star its ejecta will be shocked, causing an early blue excess in the lightcurve. A handful of these excesses have been found in single-object studies, but inferences about the population of SNe Ia as a whole have been limited because of the rarity of multiwavelength follow-up within days of explosion. Here we present a 3 yr investigation yielding a nearly unbiased sample of nine nearby ( z < 0.01) SNe Ia with exemplary early data. The data are multiwavelength, covering UBVgri and Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory UV bandpasses, and also early, with an average first epoch 16.0 days before maximum light. Of the nine objects, three show early blue excesses. We do not find enough statistical evidence to reject the null hypothesis that SNe Ia predominantly arise from Roche-lobe-overflowing single-degenerate systems ( p = 0.94). When looking at the objects’ colors, we find the objects are almost uniformly near-UV–blue, in contrast to earlier literature samples which found that only a third of SNe Ia are near-UV–blue, and we find a seemingly continuous range of B − V colors in the days after explosion, again in contrast with earlier claims in the literature. This study highlights the importance of early, multiwavelength, high-cadence data in determining the progenitor systems of SNe Ia and in revealing their diverse early behavior.

As undergraduates produce their own high-quality astrophotography images, STEM identity is shown to increase. Can more be obtained? Specifically, what student learning is possible about the physical processes occurring within these images? In this workshop, we focused on star-formation regions (stellar birth) as a model for quantification of astrophysical values. Narrowband, photometric observations from Skynet were processed in Afterglow Access, which included aligning, stacking, and coloring. Next, within the context of Strömgren sphere modelling, threshold boundaries were established for the electron number density. By securing an upper- and lower-bound on a common astrophysical quantity, undergraduates better understand how observation and theory work together for practicing scientists. In summary, this workshop reveals the capacity of astrophotography to deepen STEM identity and belonging within undergraduates by carrying out the same activities as scientists.

We present comprehensive optical observations of SN 2021gmj, a Type II supernova (SN II) discovered within a day of explosion by the Distance Less Than 40 Mpc survey. Follow-up observations show that SN 2021gmj is a low-luminosity SN II (LL SN II), with a peak magnitude M-V = -15.45 and an Fe ii velocity of similar to 1800 km s(-1) at 50 days past explosion. Using the expanding photosphere method, we derive a distance of 17.8-0.4+0.6 Mpc. From the tail of the light curve we obtain a radioactive nickel mass of (MNi)-Ni-56 = 0.014 +/- 0.001 M-circle dot. The presence of circumstellar material (CSM) is suggested by the early-time light curve, early spectra, and high-velocity H alpha in absorption. Analytical shock-cooling models of the light curve cannot reproduce the fast rise, supporting the idea that the early-time emission is partially powered by the interaction of the SN ejecta and CSM. The inferred low CSM mass of 0.025 M-circle dot in our hydrodynamic-modeling light-curve analysis is also consistent with our spectroscopy. We observe a broad feature near 4600 angstrom, which may be high-ionization lines of C, N, or/and He II. This feature is reproduced by radiation-hydrodynamic simulations of red supergiants with extended atmospheres. Several LL SNe II show similar spectral features, implying that high-density material around the progenitor may be common among them.

We report on findings from scintillation analyses using high-cadence observations of eight canonical pulsars with observing baselines ranging from 1-3 yr. We obtain scintillation bandwidth and timescale measurements for all pulsars in our survey and scintillation arc curvature measurements for four, and we detect multiple arcs for two. We find evidence of a previously undocumented scattering screen along the line of sight (LOS) to PSR J1645-0317, as well as evidence that a scattering screen along the LOS to PSR J2313+4253 may reside somewhere within the Milky Way's Orion-Cygnus arm. We report evidence of a significant change in the scintillation pattern in PSR J2022+5154 from the previous two decades of literature, wherein both the scintillation bandwidth and timescale decreased by an order of magnitude relative to earlier observations at the same frequencies, potentially as a result of a different screen dominating the observed scattering. By augmenting the results of previous studies, we find general agreement with estimations of scattering delays from pulsar observations and predictions by the NE2001 electron density model but not for the newest data we have collected, providing some evidence of changes in the ISM along various LOSs over the timespans considered. In a similar manner, we find additional evidence of a correlation between a pulsar's dispersion measure and the overall variability of its scattering delays over time. The plethora of interesting science obtained through these observations demonstrates the capabilities of the Green Bank Observatory's 20 m telescope to contribute to pulsar-based studies of the interstellar medium.

We present photometric and spectroscopic observations of SN 2023fyq, a type Ibn supernova in the nearby galaxy NGC 4388 (D$\simeq$18~Mpc). In addition, we trace long-standing precursor emission at the position of SN 2023fyq using data from DLT40, ATLAS, ZTF, ASAS-SN, Swift, and amateur astronomer Koichi Itagaki. Precursor activity is observed up to nearly three years before the supernova explosion, with a relatively rapid rise in the final 100 days. The double-peaked post-explosion light curve reaches a luminosity of $\sim10^{43}~\rm erg\,s^{-1}$. The strong intermediate-width He lines observed in the nebular spectrum of SN 2023fyq imply the interaction is still active at late phases. We found that the precursor activity in SN 2023fyq is best explained by the mass transfer in a binary system involving a low-mass He star and a compact companion. An equatorial disk is likely formed in this process ($\sim$0.6$\rm M_{\odot}$), and the interaction of SN ejecta with this disk powers the main peak of the supernova. The early SN light curve reveals the presence of dense extended material ($\sim$0.3$\rm M_{\odot}$) at $\sim$3000$\rm R_{\odot}$ ejected weeks before the SN explosion, likely due to final-stage core silicon burning or runaway mass transfer resulting from binary orbital shrinking, leading to rapid rising precursor emission within $\sim$30 days prior to explosion. The final explosion could be triggered either by the core-collapse of the He star or by the merger of the He star with a compact object. SN 2023fyq, along with SN 2018gjx and SN 2015G, forms a unique class of Type Ibn SNe which originate in binary systems and are likely to exhibit detectable long-lasting pre-explosion outbursts with magnitudes ranging from $-$10 to $-$13.

A small number of pulsars are known to emit giant pulses (GPs), single pulses much brighter than average. Among these is PSR J0534+2200, also known as the Crab pulsar, a young pulsar with high GP rates. Long-term monitoring of the Crab pulsar presents an excellent opportunity to perform statistical studies of its GPs and the processes affecting them, potentially providing insight into the behavior of other neutron stars that emit bright single pulses. Here, we present an analysis of a set of 24,985 Crab GPs obtained from 88 hr of daily observations at a center frequency of 1.55 GHz by the 20 m telescope at the Green Bank Observatory, spread over 461 days. We study the effects of refractive scintillation at higher frequencies than previous studies and compare methods of correcting for this effect. We also search for deterministic patterns seen in other single-pulse sources, possible periodicities seen in several rotating radio transients and fast radio bursts, and clustering of GPs like that seen in the repeating fast radio burst FRB 121102.

We present a detailed study of the MASTER OT J030227.28+191754.5 outburst in 2021-2022, which reached an amplitude of 10.2mag and a duration of 60d. The detections of (1) the double-peaked optical emission lines, and (2) the early and ordinary superhumps, established that MASTER OT J030227.28+191754.5 is an extremely energetic WZ Sge-type dwarf nova (DN). Based on the superhump observations, we obtained its orbital period and mass ratio as 0.05986(1)d and 0.063(1), respectively. These values are within a typical range for low-mass-ratio DNe. According to the binary parameters derived based on the thermal-tidal instability model, our analyses showed that (1) the standard disk model requires an accretion rate similar or equal to 1020gs(-1) to explain its peak optical luminosity, and (2) large mass was stored in the disk at the outburst onset. These factors cannot be explained solely by the impact of its massive (greater than or similar to 1.15M circle dot) primary white dwarf implied by Kimura et al. (2023, ApJ, 951, 124). Instead, we propose that the probable origin of this enormously energetic DN outburst is the even lower quiescence viscosity than other WZ Sge-type DNe. This discussion is qualitatively valid for most possible binary parameter spaces unless the inclination is low enough (less than or similar to 40 degrees) for the disk to be bright, explaining the outburst amplitude. Such low inclinations, however, would not allow detectable amplitude of early superhumps in the current thermal-tidal instability model. The optical spectra at outburst maximum showed strong emission lines of the Balmer, He i, and He ii series, the core of which is narrower than similar to 800kms(-1). Considering its binary parameters, a Keplerian disk cannot explain this narrow component, but the presumable origin is disk winds.

We present optical, infrared, ultraviolet, and radio observations of SN 2022xkq, an underluminous fast-declining Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) in NGC 1784 ( D ≈ 31 Mpc), from <1 to 180 days after explosion. The high-cadence observations of SN 2022xkq, a photometrically transitional and spectroscopically 91bg-like SN Ia, cover the first days and weeks following explosion, which are critical to distinguishing between explosion scenarios. The early light curve of SN 2022xkq has a red early color and exhibits a flux excess that is more prominent in redder bands; this is the first time such a feature has been seen in a transitional/91bg-like SN Ia. We also present 92 optical and 19 near-infrared (NIR) spectra, beginning 0.4 days after explosion in the optical and 2.6 days after explosion in the NIR. SN 2022xkq exhibits a long-lived C i 1.0693 μ m feature that persists until 5 days post-maximum. We also detect C ii λ 6580 in the pre-maximum optical spectra. These lines are evidence for unburnt carbon that is difficult to reconcile with the double detonation of a sub-Chandrasekhar mass white dwarf. No existing explosion model can fully explain the photometric and spectroscopic data set of SN 2022xkq, but the considerable breadth of the observations is ideal for furthering our understanding of the processes that produce faint SNe Ia.

We present the optical spectroscopic evolution of SN 2023ixf seen in subnight cadence spectra from 1.18 to 15 days after explosion. We identify high-ionization emission features, signatures of interaction with material surrounding the progenitor star, that fade over the first 7 days, with rapid evolution between spectra observed within the same night. We compare the emission lines present and their relative strength to those of other supernovae with early interaction, finding a close match to SN 2020pni and SN 2017ahn in the first spectrum and SN 2014G at later epochs. To physically interpret our observations, we compare them to CMFGEN models with confined, dense circumstellar material around a red supergiant (RSG) progenitor from the literature. We find that very few models reproduce the blended N iii ( λλ 4634.0,4640.6)/C iii ( λλ 4647.5,4650.0) emission lines observed in the first few spectra and their rapid disappearance thereafter, making this a unique diagnostic. From the best models, we find a mass-loss rate of 10 −3 –10 −2 M ⊙ yr −1 , which far exceeds the mass-loss rate for any steady wind, especially for an RSG in the initial mass range of the detected progenitor. These mass-loss rates are, however, similar to rates inferred for other supernovae with early circumstellar interaction. Using the phase when the narrow emission features disappear, we calculate an outer dense radius of circumstellar material R CSM,out ≈ 5 × 10 14 cm, and a mean circumstellar material density of ρ = 5.6 × 10 −14 g cm −3 . This is consistent with the lower limit on the outer radius of the circumstellar material we calculate from the peak H α emission flux, R CSM,out ≳ 9 × 10 13 cm.

We present an analysis of the BVRI photometry of the blazar BL Lacertae on diverse timescales from 2020 mid-July to mid-September. We have used 11 different optical telescopes around the world and have collected data over 84 observational nights. The observations cover the onset of a new activity phase of BL Lacertae that started in 2020 August (termed as the 2020 August flare by us), and the analysis is focused on the intranight variability. On short-term timescales, (i) flux varied with ∼2.2 mag in the R band, (ii) the spectral index was found to be weakly dependent on the flux (i.e., the variations could be considered mildly chromatic), and (iii) no periodicity was detected. On intranight timescales, BL Lacertae was found to predominantly show bluer-when-brighter chromatism. We also found two cases of significant interband time lags of the order of a few minutes. The duty cycle of the blazar during the 2020 August flare was estimated to be quite high (∼90% or higher). We decomposed the intranight light curves into individual flares and determined their characteristics. On the basis of our analysis and assuming the turbulent jet model, we determined some characteristics of the emitting regions: Doppler factor, magnetic field strength, electron Lorentz factor, and radius. The radii determined were discussed in the framework of the Kolmogorov theory of turbulence. We also estimated the weighted mean structure function slope on intranight timescales, related it to the slope of the power spectral density, and discussed it with regard to the origin of intranight variability.

Funded by a $3M Department of Defense (DoD) National Defense Education Program (NDEP) award, we are developing and deploying on a national scale a follow-up curriculum to "Our Place In Space!", or OPIS!, in which approx. 3,500 survey-level astronomy students are using our global network of "Skynet" robotic telescopes each year. The goal of this new curriculum, called "Astrophotography of the Multi-Wavelength Universe!", or MWU!, is to boost the number of these students who choose STEM majors. During Y1, our participating educators have developed MWU!'s (now renumbered) 2nd and 4th modules, and are in the process of developing its 3rd and 7th modules (out of 7). Solid progress has also been made on the software front, (1) where we have developed new graphing/analysis/modeling interfaces in support of Modules 2 and 4, and in response to feedback from the participating educators; and (2) where we are in the process of developing and adding astrophotography capabilities to Afterglow Access (AgA), our student-level, web-based, image processing and analysis application, in support of Modules 1 - 3 and 5 - 7. On the hardware front, development of our first four signal-processing units proceeds on schedule; these are key to Skynet's integration of a global network of radio telescopes, capable of exploring the invisible universe. Preparations have also been made on the evaluation and accessibility fronts, for when the first MWU! modules are deployed in Spring 2023.

In Maples et al. (2018) we introduced Robust Chauvenet Outlier Rejection, or RCR, a novel outlier rejection technique that evolves Chauvenet's Criterion by sequentially applying different measures of central tendency and empirically determining the rejective sigma value. RCR is especially powerful for cleaning heavily-contaminated samples, and unlike other methods such as sigma clipping, it manages to be both accurate and precise when characterizing the underlying uncontaminated distributions of data sets, by using decreasingly robust but increasingly precise statistics in sequence. For this work, we present RCR from a software standpoint, newly implemented as a Python package while maintaining the speed of the C++ original. RCR has been well-tested, calibrated and simulated, and it can be used for both one-dimensional outlier rejection and $n$-dimensional model-fitting, with or without weighted data. RCR is free to use for academic and non-commercial purposes, and the code, documentation and accompanying web calculator can be found and easily used online at https://github.com/nickk124/RCR

We perform a comprehensive search for optical precursor emission at the position of SN 2023ixf using data from the DLT40, ZTF, and ATLAS surveys. By comparing the current data set with precursor outburst hydrodynamical model light curves, we find that the probability of a significant outburst within 5 yr of explosion is low, and the circumstellar material (CSM) ejected during any possible precursor outburst is likely smaller than ∼0.015 M ⊙ . By comparing to a set of toy models, we find that, if there was a precursor outburst, the duration must have been shorter than ∼100 days for a typical brightness of M r ≃ −9 mag or shorter than 200 days for M r ≃ −8 mag; brighter, longer outbursts would have been discovered. Precursor activity like that observed in the normal Type II SN 2020tlf ( M r ≃ −11.5) can be excluded in SN 2023ixf. If the dense CSM inferred by early flash spectroscopy and other studies is related to one or more precursor outbursts, then our observations indicate that any such outburst would have to be faint and only last for days to months, or it occurred more than 5 yr prior to the explosion. Alternatively, any dense, confined CSM may not be due to eruptive mass loss from a single red supergiant progenitor. Taken together, the results of SN 2023ixf and SN 2020tlf indicate that there may be more than one physical mechanism behind the dense CSM inferred around some normal Type II supernovae.

We present very early photometric and spectroscopic observations of the Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) 2023bee, starting about 8 hr after the explosion, which reveal a strong excess in the optical and nearest UV (U and UVW1) bands during the first several days of explosion. This data set allows us to probe the nature of the binary companion of the exploding white dwarf and the conditions leading to its ignition. We find a good match to the Kasen model in which a main-sequence companion star stings the ejecta with a shock as they buzz past. Models of double detonations, shells of radioactive nickel near the surface, interaction with circumstellar material, and pulsational delayed detonations do not provide good matches to our light curves. We also observe signatures of unburned material, in the form of carbon absorption, in our earliest spectra. Our radio nondetections place a limit on the mass-loss rate from the putative companion that rules out a red giant but allows a main-sequence star. We discuss our results in the context of other similar SNe Ia in the literature.

We present five far- and near-ultraviolet spectra of the Type II plateau supernova, SN 2022acko, obtained 5, 6, 7, 19, and 21 days after explosion, all observed with the Hubble Space Telescope/Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph. The first three epochs are earlier than any Type II plateau supernova has been observed in the far-ultraviolet revealing unprecedented characteristics. These three spectra are dominated by strong lines, primarily from metals, which contrasts with the relatively featureless early optical spectra. The flux decreases over the initial time series as the ejecta cools and line-blanketing takes effect. We model this unique dataset with the non-local thermodynamic equilibrium radiation transport code CMFGEN, finding a good match to the explosion of a low mass red supergiant with energy Ekin = 6 x 10^50 erg. With these models we identify, for the first time, the ions that dominate the early UV spectra. We also present optical photometry and spectroscopy, showing that SN 2022acko has a peak absolute magnitude of V = -15.4 mag and plateau length of 115d. The spectra closely resemble those of SN 2005cs and SN 2012A. Using the combined optical and UV spectra, we report the fraction of flux redwards of the uvw2, U, B, and V filters on days 5, 7, and 19. We also create a spectral time-series of Type II supernovae in the ultraviolet, demonstrating the rapid decline of UV flux over the first few weeks of evolution. Future observations of Type II supernovae will continue to explore the diversity seen in the limited set of high-quality UV spectra.

Intense outbursts in blazars are among the most extreme phenomena seen in extragalactic objects. Studying these events can offer important information about the energetic physical processes taking place within the innermost regions of blazars, which are beyond the resolution of current instruments. This work presents some of the largest and most rapid flares detected in the optical band from the sources 3C 279, OJ 49, S4 0954+658, Ton 599, and PG 1553+113, which are mostly TeV blazars. The source flux increased by nearly ten times within a few weeks, indicating the violent nature of these events. Such energetic events might originate from magnetohydrodynamical instabilities near the base of the jets, triggered by processes modulated by the magnetic field of the accretion disc. We explain the emergence of flares owing to the injection of high-energy particles by the shock wave passing along the relativistic jets. Alternatively, the flares may have also arisen due to geometrical effects related to the jets. We discuss both source-intrinsic and source-extrinsic scenarios as possible explanations for the observed large amplitude flux changes.

We present the densely sampled early light curve of the Type II supernova (SN) 2023ixf, first observed within hours of explosion in the nearby Pinwheel Galaxy (Messier 101; 6.7 Mpc). Comparing these data to recently updated models of shock-cooling emission, we find that the progenitor likely had a radius of $410 \pm 10\ R_\odot$. Our estimate is model dependent but consistent with a red supergiant. These models provide a good fit to the data starting about 1 day after the explosion, despite the fact that the classification spectrum shows signatures of circumstellar material around SN 2023ixf during that time. Photometry during the first day after the explosion, provided almost entirely by amateur astronomers, does not agree with the shock-cooling models or a simple power-law rise fit to data after 1 day. We consider the possible causes of this discrepancy, including precursor activity from the progenitor star, circumstellar interaction, and emission from the shock before or after it breaks out of the stellar surface. The very low luminosity ($-11\mathrm{\ mag} > M > -14\mathrm{\ mag}$) and short duration of the initial excess lead us to prefer a scenario related to prolonged emission from the SN shock traveling through the progenitor system.

We present the binary model and the eclipse timing variations of the eclipsing binary RR Cae, which consists of a white dwarf eclipsed by an M-type dwarf companion. The multi-wavelength optical photometry from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), the 0.6-m PROMPT-8 telescope, and the 0.7-m Thai Robotic Telescope at Spring Brook Observatory, combined with archive H-alpha radial velocities from the Very Large Telescope (VLT) are analysed. From the data, the physical parameters of the system are obtained along with 430 new times of minima. The TESS light curves in 2018 and 2020 show out-of-eclipse variations, which might be caused by a large spot on the secondary component. The light travel time effect models due to the gravitational interaction of one or two circumbinary objects are adopted to fit the cyclic variations in the RR Cae's O-C curve. The fitting solution of the O-C curve with one circumbinary object model shows a periodic variation with a period of $16.6\pm0.2$ yr and an amplitude of $14\pm1$ s, which can be caused by a planet with a minimum mass of $3.4\pm0.2$ M$_{Jup}$. When we consider the model with two circumbinary objects, the O-C curve shows cyclic variations with periods of $15.0\pm0.5$ yr and $39\pm5$ yr and amplitudes of $12\pm1$ s and $20\pm5$ s, respectively, corresponding to minimum masses of $3.0\pm0.3$ M$_{Jup}$ and $2.7\pm0.7$ M$_{Jup}$.