The place of the Sun among the Sun-like stars. (arXiv:1303.2245v1 [astro-ph.SR])

The place of the Sun among the Sun-like stars. (arXiv:1303.2245v1 [astro-ph.SR]):
Context. Monitoring of the photometric and chromospheric HK emission data
series of stars similar to the Sun in age and average activity level showed
that there is an empirical correlation between the average stellar
chromospheric activity level and the photometric variability. In general, more
active stars show larger photometric variability. Interestingly, the
measurements and reconstructions of the solar irradiance show that the Sun is
significantly less variable than indicated by the empirical relationship. Aims.
We aim to identify possible reasons for the Sun to be currently outside of this
relationship. Methods. We employed different scenarios of solar HK emission and
irradiance variability and compared them with available time series of Sun-like
stars. Results. We show that the position of the Sun on the diagram of
photometric variability versus chromospheric activity changes with time. The
present solar position is different from its temporal mean position as the
satellite era of continuous solar irradiance measurements has accidentally
coincided with a period of unusually high and stable solar activity. Our
analysis suggests that although present solar variability is significantly
smaller than indicated by the stellar data, the temporal mean solar variability
might be in agreement with the stellar data. We propose that the continuation
of the photometric program and its expansion to a larger stellar sample will
ultimately allow us to constrain the historical solar variability.

Black Hole Spin via Continuum Fitting and the Role of Spin in Powering Transient Jets. (arXiv:1303.1583v1 [astro-ph.HE])

Black Hole Spin via Continuum Fitting and the Role of Spin in Powering Transient Jets. (arXiv:1303.1583v1 [astro-ph.HE]):
The spins of ten stellar black holes have been measured using the
continuum-fitting method. These black holes are located in two distinct classes
of X-ray binary systems, one that is persistently X-ray bright and another that
is transient. Both the persistent and transient black holes remain for long
periods in a state where their spectra are dominated by a thermal accretion
disk component. The spin of a black hole of known mass and distance can be
measured by fitting this thermal continuum spectrum to the thin-disk model of
Novikov and Thorne; the key fit parameter is the radius of the inner edge of
the black hole's accretion disk. Strong observational and theoretical evidence
links the inner-disk radius to the radius of the innermost stable circular
orbit, which is trivially related to the dimensionless spin parameter a* (|a*|
\le 1). The ten spins that have so far been measured by this continuum-fitting
method range widely from a* \approx 0 to a* > 0.95. The robustness of the
method is demonstrated by the dozens or hundreds of independent and consistent
measurements of spin that have been obtained for several black holes, and
through careful consideration of many sources of systematic error. Among the
results discussed is a sharp dichotomy between the transient and persistent
black holes; the latter have higher spins and larger masses. Also discussed is
recently discovered evidence in the transient sources for a correlation between
the power of ballistic jets and black hole spin.

PRIMUS: Infrared and X-ray AGN Selection Techniques at 0.2<z<1.2. (arXiv:1302.2920v1 [astro-ph.CO])

PRIMUS: Infrared and X-ray AGN Selection Techniques at 0.2<z<1.2. (arXiv:1302.2920v1 [astro-ph.CO]):
We present a study of Spitzer/IRAC and X-ray active galactic nuclei (AGNs)
selection techniques in order to quantify the overlap, uniqueness,
contamination, and completeness of each. We investigate how the overlap and
possible contamination of the samples depends on the IR and X-ray depths. We
use Spitzer/IRAC imaging, Chandra and XMM X-ray imaging, and PRism MUlti-object
Survey (PRIMUS) spectroscopic redshifts to construct galaxy and AGN samples at
0.2<z<1.2 over 8 deg^2. We construct samples over a wide range of IRAC flux
limits (SWIRE to GOODS depth) and X-ray flux limits (10 ks to 2 Ms). We compare
IR-AGN samples defined using the IRAC color selection of Stern et al. and
Donley et al. with X-ray detected AGN samples. For roughly similar depth IR and
X-ray surveys, we find that ~75% of IR-AGN are identified as X-ray AGN. This
fraction increases to ~90% when comparing against the deepest X-ray data,
indicating that only ~10% of IR-selected AGN may be heavily obscured. The
IR-AGN selection proposed by Stern et al. suffers from contamination by
star-forming galaxies at various redshifts when using deeper IR data, though
the selection technique works well for shallow IR data. While similar overall,
the IR-AGN samples preferentially contain more luminous AGN, while the X-ray
AGN samples preferentially contain lower specific accretion rate AGN, where the
host galaxy light dominates at IR wavelengths. The host galaxy populations of
the IR and X-ray AGN samples have similar restframe colors and stellar masses;
both selections identify AGN in blue, star-forming and red, quiescent galaxies.

The UV and X-ray activity of the M dwarfs within 10pc of the Sun. (arXiv:1302.1061v1 [astro-ph.SR])

The UV and X-ray activity of the M dwarfs within 10pc of the Sun. (arXiv:1302.1061v1 [astro-ph.SR]):
We systematically study the X-ray and ultraviolet emission of a subsample of
M dwarfs from a recent proper-motion survey, selecting all M dwarfs within 10pc
to obtain a nearly volume-limited sample (~90% completeness). Archival ROSAT,
XMM-Newton and GALEX data are combined with published spectroscopic studies of
Halpha emission and rotation to obtain a broad picture of stellar activity on M
dwarfs. We make use of synthetic model spectra to determine the relative
contributions of photospheric and chromospheric emission to the ultraviolet
flux. We also analyse the same diagnostics for a comparison sample of young M
dwarfs in the TWHya association (~10Myrs). We find that generally the emission
in the GALEX bands is dominated by the chromosphere but the photospheric
component is not negligible in early-M field dwarfs. The surface fluxes for the
Halpha, near-ultraviolet, far-ultraviolet and X-ray emission are connected via
a power law dependence. We present here for the first time such flux-flux
relations involving broad-band ultraviolet emission for M dwarfs. For given
spectral type the activity indices, defined as flux ratio between the activity
diagnostic and the bolometric flux of the star, display a spread of 2-3 dex
which is largest for M4 stars. The mean activity index for fast rotators,
likely representing the saturation level, decreases from X-rays over the FUV to
the NUV band and Halpha, i.e. the fractional radiation output increases with
atmospheric height. The comparison to the ultraviolet and X-ray properties of
TWHya members shows a drop of nearly three orders of magnitude for the
luminosity in these bands between ~10Myr and few Gyrs age. A few young field
dwarfs (< 1Gyr) in the 10pc sample bridge the gap indicating that the drop in
magnetic activity with age is a continuous process. The slope of the age decay
is steeper for the X-ray than for the UV luminosity.

High redshift blazars. (arXiv:1302.0011v1 [astro-ph.CO])

High redshift blazars. (arXiv:1302.0011v1 [astro-ph.CO]):
Blazars are sources whose jet is pointing to us. Since their jets are
relativistic, the flux is greatly amplified in the direction of motion, making
blazars the most powerful persistent objects in the Universe. This is true at
all frequencies, but especially where their spectrum peaks. Although the
spectrum of moderate powerful sources peaks in the ~GeV range, extremely
powerful sources at high redshifts peak in the ~MeV band. This implies that the
hard X-ray band is the optimal one to find powerful blazars beyond a redshift
of ~4. First indications strongly suggest that powerful high-z blazars harbor
the most massive and active early black holes, exceeding a billion solar
masses. Since for each detected blazars there must exist hundreds of similar,
but misaligned, sources, the search for high-z blazars is becoming competitive
with the search of early massive black holes using radio-quiet quasars. Finding
how the two populations of black holes (one in jetted sources, the other in
radio-quiet objects) evolve in redshift will shed light on the growth of the
most massive black holes and possibly on the feedback between the central
engine and the rest of the host galaxy.

Probing the Dawn of Galaxies at z~9-12: New Constraints from HUDF12/XDF and CANDELS Data. (arXiv:1301.6162v1 [astro-ph.CO])

Probing the Dawn of Galaxies at z~9-12: New Constraints from HUDF12/XDF and CANDELS Data. (arXiv:1301.6162v1 [astro-ph.CO]):
We present a comprehensive analysis of z>8 galaxies based on ultra-deep
WFC3/IR data. We constrain the evolution of the UV luminosity function (LF) and
luminosity densities from z~11 to z~8 by exploiting all the WFC3/IR data over
the Hubble Ultra-Deep Field from the HUDF09 and the new HUDF12 program, in
addition to the HUDF09 parallel field data, as well as wider area WFC3/IR
imaging over GOODS-South. Galaxies are selected based on the Lyman Break
Technique in three samples centered around z~9, z~10 and z~11, with seven z~9
galaxy candidates, and one each at z~10 and z~11. We confirm a new z~10
candidate (with z=9.8+-0.6) that was not convincingly identified in our first
z~10 sample. The deeper data over the HUDF confirms all our previous z>~7.5
candidates as genuine high-redshift candidates, and extends our samples to
higher redshift and fainter limits (H_160~29.8 mag). We perform one of the
first estimates of the z~9 UV LF and improve our previous constraints at z~10.
Extrapolating the lower redshift UV LF evolution should have revealed 17 z~9
and 9 z~10 sources, i.e., a factor ~3x and 9x larger than observed. The
inferred star-formation rate density (SFRD) in galaxies above 0.7 M_sun/yr
decreases by 0.6+-0.2 dex from z~8 to z~9, in good agreement with previous
estimates. The low number of sources found at z>8 is consistent with a very
rapid build-up of galaxies across z~10 to z~8. From a combination of all
current measurements, we find a best estimate of a factor 10x decrease in the
SFRD from z~8 to z~10, following (1+z)^(-11.4+-3.1). Our measurements thus
confirm our previous finding of an accelerated evolution beyond z~8, and
signify a rapid build-up of galaxies with M_UV<-17.7 within only ~200 Myr from
z~10 to z~8, in the heart of cosmic reionization.

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Selected Galaxy Clusters at 148 GHz from Three Seasons of Data. (arXiv:1301.0816v1 [astro-ph.CO])

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Selected Galaxy Clusters at 148 GHz from Three Seasons of Data. (arXiv:1301.0816v1 [astro-ph.CO]):
[Abridged] We present a catalog of 68 galaxy clusters, of which 19 are new
discoveries, detected via the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZ) at 148 GHz in the
Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) survey of 504 square degrees on the celestial
equator. A subsample of 48 clusters within the 270 square degree region
overlapping SDSS Stripe 82 is estimated to be 90% complete for M_500c > 4.5e14
Msun and 0.15 < z < 0.8. While matched filters are used to detect the clusters,
the sample is studied further through a "Profile Based Amplitude Analysis"
using a single filter at a fixed \theta_500 = 5.9' angular scale. This new
approach takes advantage of the "Universal Pressure Profile" (UPP) to break the
degeneracy between the cluster extent (R_500) and the integrated Compton
parameter (Y_500). The UPP scalings are found to be nearly identical to an
adiabatic model, while a model incorporating non-thermal pressure better
matches dynamical mass measurements and masses from the South Pole Telescope. A
complete, high signal to noise ratio subsample of 15 ACT clusters is used to
obtain cosmological constraints. We first confirm that constraints from SZ data
are limited by uncertainty in the scaling relation parameters rather than
sample size or measurement uncertainty. We next add in seven clusters from the
ACT Southern survey, including their dynamical mass measurements based on
galaxy velocity dispersions. In combination with WMAP7 these data
simultaneously constrain the scaling relation and cosmological parameters,
yielding \sigma_8 = 0.829 \pm 0.024 and \Omega_m = 0.292 \pm 0.025. The results
include marginalization over a 15% bias in dynamical mass relative to the true
halo mass. In an extension to LCDM that incorporates non-zero neutrino mass
density, we combine our data with WMAP7+BAO+Hubble constant measurements to
constrain \Sigma m_\nu < 0.29 eV (95% C. L.).

A scientific case for future X-ray Astronomy: Galaxy Clusters at high redshifts. (arXiv:1301.5202v1 [astro-ph.CO])

A scientific case for future X-ray Astronomy: Galaxy Clusters at high redshifts. (arXiv:1301.5202v1 [astro-ph.CO]):
Clusters of galaxies at high redshift (z>1) are vitally important to
understand the evolution of the large scale structure of the Universe, the
processes shaping galaxy populations and the cycle of the cosmic baryons, and
to constrain cosmological parameters. After 13 years of operation of the
Chandra and XMM-Newton satellites, the discovery and characterization of
distant X-ray clusters is proceeding at a slow pace, due to the low solid angle
covered so far, and the time-expensive observations needed to physically
characterize their intracluster medium (ICM). At present, we know that at z>1
many massive clusters are fully virialized, their ICM is already enriched with
metals, strong cool cores are already in place, and significant star formation
is ongoing in their most massive galaxies, at least at z>1.4. Clearly, the
assembly of a large and well characterized sample of high-z X-ray clusters is a
major goal for the future. We argue that the only means to achieve this is a
survey-optimized X-ray mission capable of offering large solid angle, high
sensitivity, good spectral coverage, low background and angular resolution as
good as 5 arcsec.

The largest mid-infrared atlas of active galactic nuclei at sub-arcsecond spatial scales. (arXiv:1301.3680v1 [astro-ph.CO])

The largest mid-infrared atlas of active galactic nuclei at sub-arcsecond spatial scales. (arXiv:1301.3680v1 [astro-ph.CO]):
We present the largest mid-infrared atlas of active galactic nuclei at
sub-arcsecond spatial scales containing 249 objects. It comprises all
ground-based HR MIR observations performed to date. This catalog includes a
large number of new observations. The photometry in multiple filters allows for
characterizing the properties of the dust emission for most objects. Because of
its size and characteristics, this sample is very well-suited for AGN
unification studies. In particular, we discuss the enlarged MIR--X-ray
correlation which extends over six orders of magnitude in luminosity and
potentially probes different physical mechanisms. Finally, tests for intrinsic
differences between the AGN types are presented and we discuss dependencies of
MIR--X-ray properties with respect to fundamental AGN parameters such as
accretion rate and the column density and covering factor of obscuring
material.

Distant galaxy clusters in a deep XMM-Newton field within the CFTHLS D4. (arXiv:1301.3506v1 [astro-ph.CO])

Distant galaxy clusters in a deep XMM-Newton field within the CFTHLS D4. (arXiv:1301.3506v1 [astro-ph.CO]):
The XMM-Newton Distant Cluster Project (XDCP) aims at the identification of a
well defined sample of X-ray selected clusters of galaxies at redshifts z>0.8.
We present a catalogue of the extended sources in one the deepest ~250 ksec
XMM-Newton fields targeting LBQS 2215-175 covering the CFHTLS deep field four.
The cluster identification is based, among others, on deep imaging with the ESO
VLT and from the CFHT legacy survey. The confirmation of cluster candidates is
done by VLT/FORS2 multi-object spectroscopy. Photometric redshifts from the
CFHTLS D4 are utilized to confirm the effectiveness of the X-ray cluster
selection method. The survey sensitivity is computed with extensive
simulations. At a flux limit of S(0.5-2.0 keV) ~ 2.5e-15 erg/s we achieve a
completeness level higher than 50% in an area of ~0.13 square degrees. We
detect six galaxy clusters above this limit with optical counterparts, of which
5 are new spectroscopic discoveries. Two newly discovered X-ray luminous galaxy
clusters are at z>1.0, another two at z=0.41 and one at z=0.34. For the most
distant X-ray selected cluster in this field at z=1.45 we find additional
(active) member galaxies from both X-ray and spectroscopic data. Additionally,
we find evidence of large scale structures at moderate redshifts of z=0.41 and
z=0.34. The quest for distant clusters in archival XMM-Newton data has led to
the detection of six clusters in a single field, making XMM-Newton an
outstanding tool for cluster surveys. Three of these clusters are at z>1, which
emphasises the valuable contribution of small, yet deep surveys to cosmology.
Beta-models are appropriate descriptions for the cluster surface brightness to
perform cluster detection simulations in order to compute the X-ray selection
function. The constructed logN-logS tends to favour a scenario where no
evolution in the cluster X-ray luminosity function (XLF) takes place.

Far-Infrared and submillimeter properties of SDSS galaxies in the Herschel ATLAS science demonstration phase field. (arXiv:1301.4001v1 [astro-ph.CO])

Far-Infrared and submillimeter properties of SDSS galaxies in the Herschel ATLAS science demonstration phase field. (arXiv:1301.4001v1 [astro-ph.CO]):
Using the Herschel ATLAS science demonstration phase data crossidentified
with SDSS DR7 spectra, we select 297 galaxies with F250{\mu}m > 5{\sigma}. The
sample galaxies are classified into five morphological types, and more than 40%
of the galaxies are peculiar/compact galaxies. The peculiar galaxies show
higher far-infrared/submillimeter luminosity-to-mass ratios than the other
types. We perform and analyze the correlations of far-infrared/submillimeter
and H{\alpha} luminosities for different morphological types and different
spectral types. The Spearman rank coefficient decreases and the scatter
increases with the wavelength increasing from 100 {\mu}m to 500 {\mu}m. We
conclude that a single Herschel SPIRE band is not good for tracing star
formation activities in galaxies. AGNs contribute less to the
far-infrared/submillimeter luminosities and do not show a difference from
star-forming galaxies. However, the earlier type galaxies present significant
deviations from the best fit of star-forming galaxies.

Updated catalog of 132,684 galaxy clusters and evolution of brightest cluster galaxies. (arXiv:1301.0871v1 [astro-ph.CO])

Updated catalog of 132,684 galaxy clusters and evolution of brightest cluster galaxies. (arXiv:1301.0871v1 [astro-ph.CO]):
We identified 132,684 clusters in the redshift range of 0.05<z<0.8 from SDSS
DR8. The spectroscopic redshifts of 52,683 clusters have been included in the
catalog using SDSS DR9 data. We found that BCGs are more luminous in richer
clusters and at higher redshifts.

A Joint Model of the X-ray And Infrared Extragalactic Backgrounds: I. Model Construction And First Results. (arXiv:1212.3642v1 [astro-ph.CO])

A Joint Model of the X-ray And Infrared Extragalactic Backgrounds: I. Model Construction And First Results. (arXiv:1212.3642v1 [astro-ph.CO]):
We present an extragalactic population model of the cosmic background light
to interpret the rich high-quality survey data in the X-ray and IR bands. The
model incorporates star-formation and supermassive black hole (SMBH) accretion
in a co-evolution scenario to fit simultaneously 617 data points of number
counts, redshift distributions and local luminosity functions (LFs) with 19
free parameters. The model has four main components, the total IR LF, the SMBH
accretion energy fraction in the IR band, the star-formation SED and the
unobscured SMBH SED extinguished with a HI column density distribution. As a
result of the observational uncertainties about the star-formation and SMBH
SEDs, we present several variants of the model. The best-fit reduced chi^2
reaches as small as 2.7-2.9 of which a significant amount (>0.8) is contributed
by cosmic variances or caveats associated with data. Compared to previous
models, the unique result of this model is to constrain the SMBH energy
fraction in the IR band that is found to increase with the IR luminosity but
decrease with redshift up to z ~ 1.5; this result is separately verified using
aromatic feature equivalent width data. The joint modelling of X-ray and mid-IR
data allows for improved constraints on the obscured AGN, especially the
Compton-thick AGN population. All variants of the model require that
Compton-thick AGN fractions decrease with the SMBH luminosity but increase with
redshift while the type-1 AGN fraction has the reverse trend.

The extended ROSAT-ESO Flux Limited X-ray Galaxy Cluster Survey (REFLEX II) III. Construction of the first flux-limited supercluster sample. (arXiv:1212.1597v1 [astro-ph.CO])

The extended ROSAT-ESO Flux Limited X-ray Galaxy Cluster Survey (REFLEX II) III. Construction of the first flux-limited supercluster sample. (arXiv:1212.1597v1 [astro-ph.CO]):
We present the first supercluster catalogue constructed with the extended
ROSAT-ESO Flux Limited X-ray Galaxy Cluster survey (REFLEX II) data, which
comprises 919 X-ray selected galaxy clusters. Based on this cluster catalogue
we construct a supercluster catalogue using a friends-of-friends algorithm with
a linking length depending on the local cluster density. The resulting
catalogue comprises 164 superclusters at redshift z<=0.4. We study the
properties of different catalogues such as the distributions of the redshift,
extent and multiplicity by varying the choice of parameters. In addition to the
main catalogue we compile a large volume-limited cluster sample to investigate
the statistics of the superclusters. We also compare the X-ray luminosity
function for the clusters in superclusters with that for the field clusters
with the flux- and volume-limited catalogues. The results mildly support the
theoretical suggestion of a top-heavy X-ray luminosity function of galaxy
clusters in regions of high cluster density.

Testing Diagnostics of Nuclear Activity and Star Formation in Galaxies at z>1. (arXiv:1212.2218v1 [astro-ph.CO])

Testing Diagnostics of Nuclear Activity and Star Formation in Galaxies at z>1. (arXiv:1212.2218v1 [astro-ph.CO]):
We present some of the first science data with the new Keck/MOSFIRE
instrument to test the effectiveness of different AGN/SF diagnostics at z~1.5.
MOSFIRE spectra were obtained in three H-band multi-slit masks in the GOODS-S
field, resulting in two hour exposures of 36 emission-line galaxies. We compare
X-ray data with the traditional "BPT" line ratio diagnostics and the
alternative mass-excitation and color-excitation diagrams, combining new
MOSFIRE infrared data with previous HST/WFC3 infrared spectra (from the 3D-HST
survey) and multiwavelength photometry. We demonstrate that a high [OIII]/\Hb
ratio is insufficient as an AGN indicator at z>1. For the four X-ray detected
galaxies, the classic BPT diagnostic ([OIII]/Hb vs. [NII]/Ha and [SII]/Ha)
remains consistent with X-ray AGN/SF classification. The X-ray data also
suggest that "composite" galaxies (with intermediate AGN/SF classification)
host bona-fide AGNs. Nearly 2/3 of the z~1.5 emission-line galaxies have
nuclear activity detected by either X-rays or the BPT diagnostic. Compared to
the X-ray and BPT classifications, the mass-excitation method remains effective
at z>1, but we show that the color-excitation method requires a new calibration
to successfully identify AGNs at these redshifts.

Radiative efficiency, variability and Bondi accretion onto massive black holes: from mechanical to quasar feedback in brightest cluster galaxies. (arXiv:1211.5604v1 [astro-ph.CO])

Radiative efficiency, variability and Bondi accretion onto massive black holes: from mechanical to quasar feedback in brightest cluster galaxies. (arXiv:1211.5604v1 [astro-ph.CO]):
We examine unresolved nuclear X-ray sources in 57 brightest cluster galaxies
to study the relationship between nuclear X-ray emission and accretion onto
supermassive black holes (SMBHs). The majority of the clusters in our sample
have prominent X-ray cavities embedded in the surrounding hot atmospheres,
which we use to estimate mean jet power and average accretion rate onto the
SMBHs over the past several hundred Myr. We find that ~50% of the sample have
detectable nuclear X-ray emission. The nuclear X-ray luminosity is correlated
with average accretion rate determined using X-ray cavities, which is
consistent with the hypothesis that nuclear X-ray emission traces ongoing
accretion. The results imply that jets in systems that have experienced recent
AGN outbursts, in the last ~10^7yr, are `on' at least half of the time. Nuclear
X-ray sources become more luminous with respect to the mechanical jet power as
the mean accretion rate rises. We show that nuclear radiation exceeds the jet
power when the mean accretion rate rises above a few percent of the Eddington
rate, where the AGN apparently transitions to a quasar. The nuclear X-ray
emission from three objects (A2052, Hydra A, M84) varies by factors of 2-10 on
timescales of 6 months to 10 years. If variability at this level is a common
phenomenon, it can account for much of the scatter in the relationship between
mean accretion rate and nuclear X-ray luminosity. We find no significant change
in the spectral energy distribution as a function of luminosity in the variable
objects. The relationship between accretion and nuclear X-ray luminosity is
consistent with emission from either a jet, an ADAF, or a combination of the
two, although other origins are possible. We also consider the longstanding
problem of whether jets are powered by the accretion of cold circumnuclear gas
or nearly spherical inflows of hot keV gas.[abridged]

Sunyaev-Zel'dovich-Measured Pressure Profiles from the Bolocam X-ray/SZ Galaxy Cluster Sample. (arXiv:1211.1632v1 [astro-ph.CO])

Sunyaev-Zel'dovich-Measured Pressure Profiles from the Bolocam X-ray/SZ Galaxy Cluster Sample. (arXiv:1211.1632v1 [astro-ph.CO]):
We describe Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect measurements and analysis of the
intracluster medium (ICM) pressure profiles of a set of 45 massive galaxy
clusters imaged using Bolocam at the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory. We have
used masses determined from Chandra X-ray observations to scale each cluster's
profile by the overdensity radius R500 and the mass-and-redshift-dependent
normalization factor P500. We deproject the average pressure profile of our
sample into 13 logarithmically spaced radial bins between 0.07R500 and 3.5R500.
We find that a generalized Navarro, Frenk, and White (gNFW) profile describes
our data with sufficient goodness-of-fit and best-fit parameters (C500, alpha,
beta, gamma, P0 = 1.18, 0.86, 3.67, 0.67, 4.29). We also use the X-ray data to
define cool-core and disturbed subsamples of clusters, and we constrain the
average pressure profiles of each of these subsamples. We find that given the
precision of our data the average pressure profiles of disturbed and cool-core
clusters are consistent with one another at R>~0.15R500, with cool-core systems
showing indications of higher pressure at R<~0.15R500. In addition, for the
first time, we place simultaneous constraints on the mass scaling of cluster
pressure profiles, their ensemble mean profile, and their radius-dependent
intrinsic scatter between 0.1R500 and 2.0R500. The scatter among profiles is
minimized at radii between ~0.2R500 and ~0.5R500, with a value of ~20%. The
best-fit mass scaling has a power-law slope of 0.49, which is shallower than
the nominal prediction of 2/3 from self-similar hydrostatic equilibrium models.
These results for the intrinsic scatter and mass scaling are largely consistent
with previous analyses, most of which have relied heavily on X-ray derived
pressures of clusters at significantly lower masses and redshifts compared to
our sample.

Cross-correlating cosmic IR and X-ray background fluctuations: evidence of significant black hole populations among the CIB sources. (arXiv:1210.5302v1 [astro-ph.CO])

Cross-correlating cosmic IR and X-ray background fluctuations: evidence of significant black hole populations among the CIB sources. (arXiv:1210.5302v1 [astro-ph.CO]):
In order to understand the nature of the sources producing the recently
uncovered CIB fluctuations, we study cross-correlations between the
fluctuations in the source-subtracted Cosmic Infrared Background (CIB) from
Spitzer/IRAC data and the unresolved Cosmic X-ray Background (CXB) from deep
Chandra observations. Our study uses data from the EGS/AEGIS field, where both
datasets cover an ~8'x45' region of the sky. Quantitatively, our measurement is
the cross-power spectrum between the IR and X-ray data which we detect to be
statistically significant and positive at angular scales >20" where the
source-subtracted CIB fluctuations in the Spitzer data are dominated by the
clustering component. The cross-power signal between the IRAC maps at 3.6 um
and 4.5 um and the Chandra [0.5-2] keV data has been detected with the overall
significance of ~3.5 sigma and ~5 sigma respectively. At the same time we find
no evidence of significant cross-correlations at the harder Chandra bands. The
cross-correlation signal is produced by individual IR sources with 3.6 um and
4.5 um magnitudes m_AB>25-26 and [0.5-2] keV X-ray fluxes <<7x10^-17 cgs. We
determine that at least 15-25% of the large scale power of CIB fluctuations is
correlated with the spatial power spectrum of the X-ray fluctuations. If this
correlation is attributed to emission from accretion processes at both IR and
X-ray wavelengths, this implies a much higher fraction of the accreting black
holes than among the known populations. We discuss the various possible low-
and high-z suspects for the discovered cross-power and show that neither local
foregrounds, nor the known remaining normal galaxies and active galactic nuclei
(AGN) can reproduce the measurements. These observational results are an
important new constraint on theoretical modeling of the near-IR CIB
fluctuations.

A High-Energy Catalogue of Galactic Supernova Remnants and Pulsar Wind Nebulae. (arXiv:1210.5264v1 [astro-ph.GA])

A High-Energy Catalogue of Galactic Supernova Remnants and Pulsar Wind Nebulae. (arXiv:1210.5264v1 [astro-ph.GA]):
Motivated by the wealth of past, existing, and upcoming X-ray and gamma-ray
missions, we have developed the first public database of high-energy
observations of all known Galactic Supernova Remnants (SNRs):
this http URL The catalogue links to, and
complements, other existing related catalogues, including Dave Green's radio
SNRs catalogue. We here highlight the features of the high-energy catalogue,
including allowing users to filter or sort data for various purposes. The
catalogue is currently targeted to Galactic SNR observations with X-ray and
gamma-ray missions, and is timely with the upcoming launch of X-ray missions
(including Astro-H). We are currently developing the existing database to
include an up-to-date Pulsar Wind Nebulae (PWNe)-dedicated webpage, with the
goal to provide a global view of PWNe and their associated neutron
stars/pulsars. This extensive database will be useful to both theorists to
apply their models or design numerical simulations, and to observers to plan
future observations or design new instruments. We welcome input and feedback
from the SNR/PWN/neutron stars community.

Order statistics applied to the most massive and most distant galaxy clusters. (arXiv:1210.6021v1 [astro-ph.CO])

Order statistics applied to the most massive and most distant galaxy clusters. (arXiv:1210.6021v1 [astro-ph.CO]):
In this work we present for the first time an analytic framework for
calculating the individual and joint distributions of the n-th most massive or
n-th highest redshift galaxy cluster for a given survey characteristic allowing
to formulate LCDM exclusion criteria. We show that the cumulative distribution
functions steepen with increasing order, giving them a higher constraining
power with respect to the extreme value statistics. Additionally, we find that
the order statistics in mass (being dominated by clusters at lower redshifts)
is sensitive to the matter density and the normalisation of the matter
fluctuations, whereas the order statistics in redshift is particularly
sensitive to the geometric evolution of the Universe. For a fixed cosmology,
both order statistics are efficient probes of the functional shape of the mass
function at the high mass end. To allow a quick assessment of both order
statistics, we provide fits as a function of the survey area that allow
percentile estimation with an accuracy better than two per cent. Furthermore,
we discuss the joint distributions in the two-dimensional case for different
combinations of order.

Having introduced the theory, we apply the order statistical analysis to the
SPT massive cluster sample and MCXC catalogue and find that the ten most
massive clusters in the sample are consistent with LCDM and the Tinker mass
function. In turn, by assuming the LCDM reference cosmology, order statistics
can also be utilised for consistency checks of the completeness of the observed
sample and of the modelling of the survey selection function. [abridged]