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We report the discovery of a bright (g = 14.5 mag (AB), K = 11.9 mag (Vega)) quasar at redshift z = 0.83 -- the optically brightest (unbeamed) quasar at z > 0.4. SMSS J114447.77-430859.3, at a Galactic latitude of b = +18.1deg, was identified by its optical colours from the SkyMapper Southern Survey (SMSS) during a search for symbiotic binary stars. Optical and near-infrared spectroscopy reveals broad MgII, H-beta, H-alpha, and Pa-beta emission lines, from which we measure a black hole mass of log10(M_BH/M_Sun) = 9.4 +/- 0.5. With its high luminosity, L_bol = (4.7 +/- 1.0) * 10^47 erg/s or M_i(z=2) = -29.74 mag (AB), we estimate an Eddington ratio of ~1.4. As the most luminous quasar known over the last ~9 Gyr of cosmic history, having a luminosity 8 times greater than 3C 273, the source offers a range of potential follow-up opportunities., Comment: 13 pages. Accepted for publication in PASA

We present an analysis of mock X-ray spectra and light curves of magnetic cataclysmic variables using an upgraded version of the 3D CYCLOPS code. This 3D representation of the accretion flow allows us to properly model total and partial occultation of the post-shock region by the white dwarf as well as the modulation of the X-ray light curves due to the phase-dependent extinction of the pre-shock region. We carried out detailed post-shock region modeling in a four-dimensional parameter space by varying the white dwarf mass and magnetic field strength as well as the magnetosphere radius and the specific accretion rate. To calculate the post-shock region temperature and density profiles, we assumed equipartition between ions and electrons, took into account the white dwarf gravitational potential, the finite size of the magnetosphere and a dipole-like magnetic field geometry, and considered cooling by both bremsstrahlung and cyclotron radiative processes. By investigating the impact of the parameters on the resulting X-ray continuum spectra, we show that there is an inevitable degeneracy in the four-dimensional parameter space investigated here, which compromises X-ray continuum spectral fitting strategies and can lead to incorrect parameter estimates. However, the inclusion of X-ray light curves in different energy ranges can break this degeneracy, and it therefore remains, in principle, possible to use X-ray data to derive fundamental parameters of magnetic cataclysmic variables, which represents an essential step toward understanding their formation and evolution., Comment: 42 pages, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series

Estimates of the accretion rate in symbiotic recurrent novae (RNe) often fall short of theoretical expectations by orders of magnitude. This apparent discrepancy can be resolved if the accumulation of mass by the white dwarf (WD) is highly sporadic, and most observations are performed during low states. Here we use a reanalysis of archival data from the Digital Access to a Sky Century @Harvard (DASCH) survey to argue that the most recent nova eruption in symbiotic RN T CrB, in 1946, occurred during -- and was therefore triggered by -- a transient accretion high state. Based on similarities in the optical light curve around 1946 and the time of the prior eruption, in 1866, we suggest that the WD in T CrB accumulates most of the fuel needed to ignite the thermonuclear runaways (TNRs) during accretion high states. A natural origin for such states is dwarf-nova like accretion-disk instabilities, which are expected in the presumably large disks in symbiotic binaries. The timing of the TNRs in symbiotic RNe could thus be set by the stability properties of their accretion disks. T CrB is in the midst of an accretion high state like the ones we posit led to the past two nova eruptions. Combined with the approach of the time at which a TNR would be expected based on the 80-year interval between the prior two novae ($2026 \pm$3), the current accretion high state increases the likelihood of a TNR occurring in T CrB in the next few years., Comment: Accepted in ApJL

We use a new interdisciplinary approach to study the UV surface habitability of Proxima $b$ under quiescent and flaring stellar conditions. We assumed planetary atmospheric compositions based on CO$_2$ and N$_2$ and surface pressures from 100 to 5000 mbar. Our results show that the combination of these atmospheric compositions and pressures provide enough shielding from the most damaging UV wavelengths, expanding the "UV-protective" planetary atmospheric compositions beyond ozone. Additionally, we show that the UV radiation reaching the surface of Proxima $b$ during quiescent conditions would be negligible from the biological point of view, even without an atmosphere. Given that high UV fluxes could challenge the existence of life, then, we experimentally tested the effect that flares would have on microorganisms in a "worst-case scenario" (no UV-shielding). Our results show the impact that a typical flare and a superflare would have on life: when microorganisms receive very high fluences of UVC, such as those expected to reach the surface of Proxima $b$ after a typical flare or a superflare, a fraction of the population is able to survive. Our study suggests that life could cope with highly UV irradiated environments in exoplanets under conditions that cannot be found on Earth., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letters

Hen 3-1341 is a symbiotic binary system consisting of a white dwarf and a red giant star that is one of about ten symbiotics that show hints of jets. The bipolar jets have been detected through displaced components of emission lines during its outburst from 1998 to 2004. These components disappeared when Hen 3-1341 reached quiescence. On February 23, 2012, Hen 3-1341 started a new outburst with the emergence of new bipolar jets on March 3, 2012. We observed Hen 3-1341 during quiescence with XMM-Newton in March 2010 with an effective exposure time of 46.8 ks and with Swift on March 8-11, 2012 as ToO observations with an effective exposure time of 10 ks in order to probe the interaction of the jet with the ambient medium and also the accretion onto the white dwarf. We fitted the XMM-Newton X-ray spectra with XSPEC and examined the X-ray and UV light curves. We report the detection of X-ray emission during quiescence from Hen 3-1341 with XMM-Newton. The spectrum can be fitted with an absorbed one-temperature plasma or an absorbed blackbody. We did not detect Hen 3-1341 during our short Swift exposure. Neither periodic or aperiodic X-ray nor UV variability were found. Our XMM-Newton data suggest that interaction of the residual jet with the interstellar medium might survive for a long time after outbursts and might be responsible for the observed X-ray emission during quiescence. Additional data are strongly needed to confirm these suggestions., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in A & A

HD 149427 is a very enigmatic object. It has been classified either as a planetary nebula or as a D'-type symbiotic star. Its distance is also highly uncertain. Furthermore, HD 149427 is a potential jet source. We report the non-detection of X-ray emission from HD 149427 and explore the implications to its nature. We observed the object with XMM-Newton with an effective exposure time of 33.5 ks. The upper limit for the flux of the X-ray emission in the soft band (<2 keV) is 10^-15 erg/s/cm^2, while in the hard band (>2 keV) it is about 10^-14 erg/s/cm^2. We discuss the implication of our results in light of the possible natures of HD 149427 -- being a planetary nebula or a symbiotic star, close or very distant. The derived upper limits on the mass accretion rate of the white dwarf are untypical for symbiotic stars and may favor the picture of HD 149427 being a young PN. HD 149427 might be a symbiotic star in hibernation -- if a symbiotic star at all. We estimate the possible mass-loss rate and kinetic luminosity of the jet and find no contradiction with our upper limit of soft X-ray emission. Therefore the jet may be still present but it was too faint to be detected via soft X-ray emission., Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in IBVS

We present recent results of quiescent X-ray observations of recurrent novae (RNe) and related objects. Several RNe are luminous hard X-ray sources in quiescence, consistent with accretion onto a near Chandrasekhar mass white dwarf. Detection of similar hard X-ray emissions in old novae and other cataclysmic variables may lead to identification of additional RN candidates. On the other hand, other RNe are found to be comparatively hard X-ray faint. We present several scenarios that may explain this dichotomy, which should be explored further., Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure; to be published in the proceedings of IAU Symposium 281, "Binary Paths to Type Ia Supernovae Explosions"

We report the detection of X-ray emission from the symbiotic star V1329 Cyg with XMM-Newton. The spectrum from the EPIC pn, MOS1 and MOS2 instruments consists of a two-temperature plasma with k T = 0.11 keV and k T = 0.93 keV. Unlike the vast majority of symbiotic stars detected in X-rays, the soft component of the spectrum seems to be absorbed only by interstellar material. The shock velocities corresponding to the observed temperatures are about 300 km/s and about 900 km/s. We did not find either periodic or aperiodic X-ray variability, with upper limits on the amplitudes of such variations being 46 % and 16 % (rms), respectively. We also did not find any ultraviolet variability with an rms amplitude of more than approximately 1 %. The derived velocities and the unabsorbed nature of the soft component of the X-ray spectrum suggest that some portion of the high energy emission could originate in shocks within a jet and beyond the symbiotic nebula. The lower velocity is consistent with the expansion velocity of the extended structure present in HST observations. The higher velocity could be associated with an internal shock at the base of the jet or with shocks in the accretion region., Comment: 6 pages, accepted for publication in ApJ, uses emulateapj

We present Suzaku X-ray observations of the recurrent nova T CrB in quiescence. T CrB is the first recurrent nova to be detected in the hard-X-ray band (E ~ 40.0 keV) during quiescence. The X-ray spectrum is consistent with cooling-flow emission emanating from an optically thin region in the boundary layer of an accretion disk around the white dwarf. The detection of strong stochastic flux variations in the light curve supports the interpretation of the hard X-ray emission as emanating from a boundary layer., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, RS Oph (2006), Keele, UK, conference proceeding