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2026

1. Farrah, D., Ejercito, K., Efstathiou, A., et al., (including van Belle, G.), 2026, ApJ, 997, 150, How Accurately Can Obscured Galaxy Luminosities Be Measured Using Spectral Energy Distribution Fitting of Near- through Far-infrared Observations?
   Abstract

   Infrared-luminous galaxies are important sites of stellar and black hole mass assembly at most redshifts. Their luminosities are often estimated by fitting spectral energy distribution (SED) models to near- to far-infrared data, but the dependence of these estimates on the data used is not well understood. Here, using observations simulated from a well-studied local sample, we compare the effects of wavelength coverage, signal-to-noise ratio, flux calibration, angular resolution, and redshift on the recovery of starburst, active galactic nucleus (AGN), and host luminosities. We show that the most important factors are wavelength coverage that spans the peak in a SED, and dense wavelength sampling. Such observations recover starburst and AGN infrared luminosities with systematic bias below 20%. Starburst luminosities are best recovered with far-infrared observations, while AGN luminosities are best recovered with near- and mid-infrared observations, though the recovery of both are enhanced with near/mid-infrared and far-infrared observations, respectively. Host luminosities are best recovered with near/far-infrared observations, but are usually biased low, by 20%. The recovery of starburst and AGN luminosity is enhanced by observing at high angular resolution. Starburst-dominated systems show more biased recovery of luminosities than do AGN-dominated systems. As redshift increases, far-infrared observations become more capable and mid-infrared observations less capable at recovering luminosities. Our results highlight the transformative power of a far-infrared instrument with dense wavelength coverage, from tens to hundreds of microns, for studying infrared-luminous galaxies. We tabulate estimates of systematic bias and random error for use with JWST and other observatories.

2. Brasseur, C., Jardine, M., Daley-Yates, S., et al., (including Donati, J.), 2026, MNRAS, Electron Cyclotron Maser Emission from Ejected Stellar Prominences on V374 Peg
   Abstract

   We investigate a possible origin for bursty radio emission observed on the active M dwarf V374 Peg, combining data-driven magnetic field modelling with archival radio light curves. We examine whether stellar prominence ejection can plausibly account for the observed radio bursts that have been attributed to electron cyclotron maser (ECM) emission. Our analysis shows that ejected prominences can produce the required energy range to drive the emission, and that modelled ECM visibility exhibits a rotational phase dependence consistent with the limited observational data (four observed bursts). The results support prominence ejection as a viable mechanism for ECM generation on V374 Peg and motivate further observational campaigns to constrain this process.

3. Hsieh, H., Usher, H., Lister, T., et al., (including Thirouin, A.), 2026, RNAAS, 10, 1, Early Observations of New Active Asteroid 2025 VZ₈
   Abstract

   We report observations of main-belt asteroid 2025 VZ₈ using multiple telescopes from UT 2025 November 24 to UT 2025 December 23 that confirm the presence of visible comet-like activity. These observations were motivated by online reports that an abrupt brightening event may have led to the object's discovery on UT 2025 November 9. In all observations reported here, the object displays a tapered tail approximately 3 long aligned with the antisolar direction. The object has an asteroidal Tisserand parameter value with respect to Jupiter (T_J = 3.371), and is thus considered an active asteroid. We measure an average apparent r' -band magnitude of m_r 21.6 mag over the reported observing period. Due to the sudden appearance of activity far from perihelion, we suggest that the activity is more likely due to an impact or rotational destabilization, rather than sublimation.

4. Hang, Q., Jeffrey, N., Whiteway, L., et al., (including Kuehn, K.), 2026, MNRAS, Biasing from galaxy trough and peak profiles with the DES Y3 redMaGiC galaxies and the weak lensing mass map
   Abstract

   We measure the correspondence between the distribution of galaxies and matter around troughs and peaks in the projected galaxy density, by comparing redMaGiC galaxies (0.15 < z < 0.65) to weak lensing mass maps from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) Y3 data release. We obtain stacked profiles, as a function of angle , of the galaxy density contrast _g and the weak lensing convergence , in the vicinity of these identified troughs and peaks, referred to as 'void' and 'cluster' superstructures. The ratio of the profiles depend mildly on , indicating good consistency between the profile shapes. We model the amplitude of this ratio using a function $F(\boldsymbol{\eta }, \theta )$ that depends on cosmological parameters $\boldsymbol{\eta }$, scaled by the galaxy bias. We construct templates of $F(\boldsymbol{\eta }, \theta )$ using a suite of N-body ('Gower Street') simulations forward-modelled with DES Y3-like noise and systematics. We discuss and quantify the caveats of using a linear bias model to create galaxy maps from the simulation dark matter shells. We measure the galaxy bias in three lens tomographic bins (near to far): $2.32^{+0.86}_{-0.27}, 2.18^{+0.86}_{-0.23}, 1.86^{+0.82}_{-0.23}$ for voids, and $2.46^{+0.73}_{-0.27}, 3.55^{+0.96}_{-0.55}, 4.27^{+0.36}_{-1.14}$ for clusters, assuming the best-fit Planck cosmology. Similar values with ~0.1 shifts are obtained assuming the mean DES Y3 cosmology. The biases from troughs and peaks are broadly consistent, although a larger bias is derived for peaks, which is also larger than those measured from the DES Y3 3 2-point analysis. This method shows an interesting avenue for measuring field-level bias that can be applied to future lensing surveys.

5. Prat, J., Gatti, M., Doux, C., et al., (including Kuehn, K.), 2026, MNRAS, 545, staf2152, Dark Energy Survey Year 3 results: wCDM cosmology from simulation-based inference with persistent homology on the sphere
   Abstract

   We present cosmological constraints from Dark Energy Survey Year 3 (DES Y3) weak lensing data using persistent homology, a topological data analysis technique that tracks how features like clusters and voids evolve across density thresholds. For the first time, we apply spherical persistent homology to galaxy survey data through the algorithm TOPOS2, which is optimized for curved-sky analyses and HEALPIX compatibility. Employing a simulation-based inference framework with the Gower Street simulation suite specifically designed to mimic DES Y3 data properties we extract topological summary statistics from convergence maps across multiple smoothing scales and redshift bins. After neural network compression of these statistics, we estimate the likelihood function and validate our analysis against baryonic feedback effects, finding minimal biases (under $0.3\sigma$) in the $\Omega _\mathrm{m}-S_8$ plane. Assuming the wCold Dark Matter model, our combined Betti numbers and second moments analysis yields $S_8 = 0.821 \pm 0.018$ and $\Omega _\mathrm{m} = 0.304\pm 0.037$ constraints 70 per cent tighter than those from cosmic shear two-point statistics in the same parameter plane. Our results demonstrate that topological methods provide a powerful and robust framework for extracting cosmological information, with our spherical methodology readily applicable to upcoming Stage IV wide-field galaxy surveys.

5 publications and 12 citations in 2026.

5 publications and 12 citations total.