Clay weekly context brief for the Astro category (ISO week 2026-W46).

Clay tracks publications from the Astro feed list. Below are recent items from this category, each with its source and a short description of what the publication covers when one is available in the source feed.

Recent publications:
1. Grid Optimization for Wide Field Modulation Collimators
   Source: astro-ph.IM (Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics)
   Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.05523
   Wide-field localization of transient sources such as gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) places new demands on the grid design of modulation collimators, whose usable field of view (FOV) is normally limited by self-vignetting.
2. Suppression of water-ice UV photodesorption on cosmic dust analogs
   Source: astro-ph.GA (Astrophysics of Galaxies)
   Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.09308
   Ultraviolet (UV) photodesorption regulates the partitioning of water between interstellar ice mantles and the gas phase, yet laboratory yields are generally measured on planar substrates rather than on surfaces representative of cosmic dust.
3. Amortized Opacity Marginalization Improves C/O Interval Calibration for Brown-Dwarf Retrievals
   Source: astro-ph.EP (Earth and Planetary Astrophysics)
   Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.01665
   Molecular line lists disagree at a level that measurably shifts retrieved C/O, so retrievals conditioned on a single list omit a dominant systematic from their error bars.
4. TDCOSMO XXVI: Uniform lens modeling of eight doubly imaged quasars
   Source: astro-ph.CO (Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics)
   Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.24908
   We present the first uniform gravitational lens modeling analysis of eight doubly imaged quasars from multi-band observations with the Hubble Space Telescope.
5. Towards Genuine Coexistence: Per-Satellite Emission and Radiation Limits to Protect Radio Astronomy and Geodetic VLBI at 1-14 GHz from Satellite Constellations
   Source: astro-ph.IM (Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics)
   Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.11659
   Geodetic very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) is a vulnerable application of the radio astronomy service (RAS): it provides the fundamental link between the celestial and terrestrial reference frames, and is the only technique that uniquely determines UT1-UTC.
6. Dynamical formation of Gaia neutron star binaries in star clusters as a phase-dependent process
   Source: astro-ph.GA (Astrophysics of Galaxies)
   Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.09039
   Gaia has discovered dormant compact-object binaries in which the compact object shows no observable interaction with its luminous companion.
7. Tracking the evolution of sub-Neptunes. II. The radius valley on gyrochronological ages
   Source: astro-ph.EP (Earth and Planetary Astrophysics)
   Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.02099
   The radius valley separating super-Earths from sub-Neptunes is understood as a signature of atmospheric mass loss, but the timescale over which it develops remains poorly constrained.
8. Universal Dark-matter Density Profiles of Cosmic Filaments
   Source: astro-ph.CO (Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics)
   Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.05033
   We present a comprehensive analysis of the radial dark-matter (DM) density profiles of cosmic filaments in the hydrodynamical simulation TNG50.
9. WindsoCC: reconstructing the wind-driven halo in MagAO-X images using wavefront sensor telemetry
   Source: astro-ph.IM (Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics)
   Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.10302
   The wind-driven halo (WDH) is a persistent, low spatial frequency noise artifact that arises due to the servo-lag error inherent to all adaptive optics (AO) instruments.
10. Tidal Braking Does Not Dominate Open-Cluster Slow Rotators
   Source: astro-ph.GA (Astrophysics of Galaxies)
   Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.08925
   Extended main-sequence turn-offs (eMSTOs) observed in open clusters younger than $2~\mathrm{Gyr}$ are commonly attributed to a spread in stellar rotation rates.
11. The Science Potential of Characterizing Gas Giant Exoplanets with HWO
   Source: astro-ph.EP (Earth and Planetary Astrophysics)
   Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.22653
   With the ability to directly image Earth-like exoplanets and search their atmospheres for biosignatures, the upcoming Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) will also collect high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) reflected-light photometry and spectra of nearby gas giant exoplanets.
12. An efficient model of cosmology dependence in the covariance matrix of the matter power spectrum
   Source: astro-ph.CO (Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics)
   Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.13245
   Covariance matrices are essential for any cosmological likelihood analysis.
13. Rapid and robust simulation-based inference for kilonovae
   Source: astro-ph.IM (Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics)
   Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.13983
   With the next generation of both electromagnetic and gravitational wave observatories beginning to come online, rapid analysis methods for kilonova data are becoming increasingly important in astronomy.
14. SN 2026ahvu in NGC 1433 May Be a Prompt Type Ia Supernova with a Delay Time Under 100 Myr
   Source: astro-ph.GA (Astrophysics of Galaxies)
   Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.09875
   SN 2026ahvu is a Type Ia supernova (SN) that occurred in the nearby galaxy NGC 1433.
15. Origin and evolution of NiI and FeI in the coma of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS throughout its trajectory
   Source: astro-ph.EP (Earth and Planetary Astrophysics)
   Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.07652
   We present high-resolution UVES+VLT observations of neutral nickel and iron atoms in the coma of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS taken after perihelion.
16. An information-theoretic framework for quantifying coherence in the cosmic density field
   Source: astro-ph.CO (Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics)
   Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.02351
   We introduce an information-theoretic framework for quantifying the coherence retained in the cosmic density field across cosmic time.
17. A pipeline for identifying astrophysical signals and instrumental glitches in LISA data
   Source: astro-ph.IM (Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics)
   Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.08880
   The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) is a space-based gravitational wave detector scheduled for launch in the 2030s by the European Space Agency.
18. Multi-phase Carbon Structure and Dynamics in NGC 6334: Insights from CO, [C I], and [C II]
   Source: astro-ph.GA (Astrophysics of Galaxies)
   Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.09871
   We present high-angular and velocity resolution observations of the emission lines of [CII] at 158 micron, [CI] at 609 micron, and the 12CO and 13CO (J=3-2) transitions toward the central region of NGC 6334, providing a detailed multi-phase view of carbon in this massive star-forming complex.
19. Exoplanetary radio emission predictions and detectability in the SKA era
   Source: astro-ph.EP (Earth and Planetary Astrophysics)
   Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.19776
   Radio observations provide a window into a planet's interior and play a crucial role in studying its atmosphere and surface, key factors to find potential habitability.

Sources in this brief: astro-ph.CO (Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics); astro-ph.EP (Earth and Planetary Astrophysics); astro-ph.GA (Astrophysics of Galaxies); astro-ph.IM (Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics).
Selected 19 of 62 available items for this weekly brief.