E-INSPIRE – II. Finding relics from wide-sky multi-band surveys: A proof-of-concept machine learning regression algorithm

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Oxford University Press (OUP) (2026) stag1718

Authors:

Charles Rosen, Chiara Spiniello, John Mills, Alexey Sergeyev, Vladyslav Khramtsov, Anna Ferré-Mateu, Johanna Hartke, Michalina Maksymowicz-Maciata, Malgorzata Siudek, Crescenzo Tortora

Abstract:

Abstract In this second paper of the E-INSPIRE series, we train a machine-learning-based regression on ~430 nearby (z < 0.5) ultra-compact massive galaxies (UCMGs) with spectroscopically inferred kinematics, stellar population parameters and a measured “degree of relicness” (DoR). Our goal is to investigate how robustly the spectroscopically inferred DoR can be statistically reconstructed from observable galaxy properties, and to explore the potential applicability of this framework to future wide-area surveys. We test several regression algorithms finding that Support Vector Regression (SVR) provides the best performance. We explore multiple input feature configurations, from a minimal set including only age and metallicity to more comprehensive ones incorporating stellar population parameters, kinematics, structural properties, and the associated uncertainties. All tested models achieve similarly high performance on the training set (R2 ≥ 0.81), except for the minimal configuration (R2 ~ 0.78). When evaluated on an independent INSPIRE sample of 52 UCMGs, the predictive power remains robust, although with increased model-to-model variation. The DoR distribution shows three regimes, with low (DoR<0.3) and high (DoR>0.6) values sparsely populated, leading to mild regression shrinkage toward intermediate values. However, this behaviour enables a conservative selection strategy: galaxies with predicted DoR≥0.6 are strongly biased toward genuine extreme relics, making them prime targets for follow-up observations. This proof-of-concept confirms that the spectroscopically inferred DoR is robustly connected to observable stellar population and kinematical properties, and provides a first step toward future relic-candidate selection strategies in large photometric and spectroscopic surveys.

Measurement of Reactor Antineutrino Oscillations with 1.46 Kilotonne-Years of Data at SNO+

Physical Review Letters American Physical Society (APS) 137:10 (2026) 101807

Authors:

M Abreu, A Allega, MR Anderson, S Andringa, DM Asner, DJ Auty, A Bacon, T Baltazar, F Barão, N Barros, R Bayes, EW Beier, A Bialek, SD Biller, E Caden, M Chen, S Cheng, B Cleveland, D Cookman, J Corning, S DeGraw, R Dehghani, J Deloye, MM Depatie, C Dima, J Dittmer, KH Dixon, MS Esmaeilian, E Falk, N Fatemighomi, R Ford, S Gadamsetty, A Gaur, D Gooding, C Grant, J Grove, S Hall, AL Hallin, D Hallman, MR Hebert, WJ Heintzelman, RL Helmer, C Hewitt, B Hreljac, P Huang, R Hunt-Stokes, AS Inácio, CJ Jillings, S Kaluzienski, T Kaptanoglu, J Kladnik, JR Klein, LL Kormos, B Krar, C Kraus, T Kroupová, C Lake, L Lebanowski, C Lefebvre, V Lozza, M Luo, S Maguire, A Maio, S Manecki, J Maneira, RD Martin, N McCauley, AB McDonald, C Mills, G Milton, D Morris, I Morton-Blake, M Mubasher, S Naugle, LJ Nolan, HM O’Keeffe, GD Orebi Gann, S Ouyang, J Page, S Pal, K Paleshi, W Parker, LJ Pickard, RC Pitelka, B Quenallata, P Ravi, A Reichold, S Riccetto, J Rose, R Rosero, J Shen, J Simms, P Skensved, M Smiley, R Tafirout, B Tam, J Tseng, E Vázquez-Jáuregui, CJ Virtue, F Wang, M Ward, JD Wilson, JR Wilson, A Wright, S Yang, Z Ye, M Yeh, S Yu, Y Zhang, K Zuber, A Zummo

Abstract:

The SNO+ Collaboration reports new results on reactor antineutrino oscillations using data acquired from May 2022 through July 2025. The spectral analysis of a flux dominated by nuclear reactors at 240, 340, and 350 km yields the mass-squared difference Δ m 21 2 = ( 7.9 1 − 0.25 + 0.22 ) × 10 − 5 eV 2 . This result is compatible with and approaches the precision of the only other long-baseline reactor antineutrino measurement, by KamLAND. Combining these measurements, along with those from solar neutrino experiments, the global values of the neutrino mixing parameters become Δ m 21 2 = ( 7.59 ± 0.17 ) × 10 − 5 eV 2 and sin 2 θ 12 = 0.310 ± 0.012 . The analysis of geoneutrinos at SNO + is also improved, with a measured signal of 48 − 12 + 14 TNU.

The moving lens effect: analytical modelling and foreground suppression

(2026)

Authors:

Amy Wayland, David Alonso, William Coulton

Archival transients detected with the MeerLICHT telescope I: Supernovae

(2026)

Authors:

O Mogawana, PJ Groot, N Blagorodnova, PM Vreeswijk, DLA Pieterse, S Bloemen, G Leloudas, RAD Wijnands, DAH Buckley, PA Woudt, R Fender, BW Stappers

Radio-detected Lyα emitters at 1.88 < z < 3.52: AGN fraction and Lyα emission

Astronomy & Astrophysics EDP Sciences 713 (2026) a183

Authors:

Sai Zhai, Huub Röttgering, Anniek J Gloudemans, Erin Mentuch Cooper, Maya H Debski, Gregory Zeimann, Matt J Jarvis, Leah K Morabito, Donald P Schneider, Daniel J Farrow, Gary J Hill, Caryl Gronwall, Yuming Fu

Abstract:

Context . Ly α emitters (LAEs) are galaxies with strong Ly α emission, tracing early star formation and ionizing radiation. Their connection to active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is key to understanding the mechanisms behind (extended) Ly α emission. Aims . For this study, we measured the fraction of LAEs identified as radio-emitting AGNs ( f AGN,radio ) and the fraction of radio sources that exhibit Ly α emission ( f Ly α ) to investigate the connection of radio AGN activity to Ly α emission at 1.88 < z < 3.52. Methods . We identified 928 sources that were detected in both the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX) and the LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR) surveys. These matches were drawn from 55 109 spectroscopically confirmed LAEs and 27 625 radio sources. Results . After applying completeness corrections, we obtain f AGN,radio = 1.77 ± 0.04% and f Ly α = 18.15 ± 0.14% (for Ly α fluxes above 3×10 −17 erg s −1 cm −2 and radio flux densities above 0.1 mJy at 144 MHz). The fraction f AGN,radio increases from 0.4 ± 0.1% at log 10 L Lyα,ergs −1 ≈ 42.6 to 9.7 ± 1.3% at log 10 L Lyα,ergs −1 ≈ 44.5. The fraction f Lyα rises from 0.7 ± 0.1% at log 10 L 150,WHz −1 ≈ 24.6 to 55.8 ± 14.5% for log 10 L 150,WHz −1 ≈ 28.3. ‘LAEs with radio AGNs’ and ‘optical AGNs with Ly α emission’ exhibit similar radio luminosity distributions above the AGN threshold ( L 150MHz > 10 23.9 W Hz −1 ), though optical AGNs show systematically higher Ly α luminosities. We find no statistically significant correlations of Ly α luminosity with both radio luminosity and a low-frequency spectral index, suggesting that Ly α emission is regulated by gas properties rather than jet power alone. We also find a positive correlation between the full width at half maximum (FWHM) and luminosity of the Ly α line, suggesting that more luminous sources have broader lines, potentially due to enhanced outflows or velocity dispersions. However, we find no correlation between FWHM and radio size, indicating minimal direct jet-gas interaction in these systems. Conclusions . Our results show that most Ly α emission at 1.88 < z < 3.52 is powered by star formation, with radio AGN activity confined to a small luminous subset (1.77 ± 0.04%). While luminous systems preferentially host radio AGNs, the lack of correlation between Ly α and radio luminosities in individual sources indicates that Ly α emission is governed primarily by host galaxy gas properties rather than direct AGN jet coupling.