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Dwarf Galaxies Show Little ISM Evolution from z ∼ 1 to z ...pic Study of Metallicity, Star Formation, and Electron Density
John Pharo et al 2023 ApJ 959 48 The interstellar media of dwarf galaxies — defined in this work as galaxies with total stellar mass less than about 3 billion times the mass of the Sun — hav...
A Possible Shredded Star Disguised as a Gamma-ray Burst
Is GRB 191019A truly a gamma-ray burst, or could it be the first example of an ultra-deep tidal disruption event? The post A Possible Shredded Star Disguised as a Gamma-ray Burst appeared firs...
Can the Parker Solar Probe Detect a CME-Flare Current Sheet?
Yuhao Chen et al 2023 ApJS 269 22 If current or future spacecraft cross a solar current sheet, it would give researchers entirely new insight into these structures, which are key to understanding...
Unveiling Hamstars: The Cheek-Stuffing Accreting Stars
Astrobites reports on a class of accreting stars nicknamed "hamstars" that store overflow matter in stellar "cheeks" to eat later. The post Unveiling Hamstars: The Cheek-Stuffing Accreting Star...
A Massive Protocluster Anchored by a Luminous Quasar at z = 6.63
Feige Wang et al 2024 ApJL 962 L11 Researchers discover a protocluster just 800 million years after the Big Bang; the protocluster is estimated to involve into a galaxy cluster with a mass of 7 q...
Featured Image: A Tale of Three Dwarf Galaxies
Compact blue dwarf galaxies share many properties with galaxies in the early universe, giving researchers a way to study distant, ancient galaxies up close. The post Featured Image: A Tale of T...
High-Altitude Spider-Type Prominence Above the Magnetic Null Point
Boris Filippov 2023 ApJ 958 184 Coronal “spiders” or coronal cloud prominences are strands of cool, tenuous solar plasma suspended up to 200,000 km in the corona; these features tend to shrin...
GJ 367b Is a Dark, Hot, Airless Sub-Earth
Michael Zhang et al 2024 ApJL 961 L44 If you have tickets to visit GJ 367b, cancel ‘em — the planet has a molten dayside surface, is likely uncomfortably hot, and has lost all of its surface ...
Possibility of Detecting Clumsy Asteroids
After observing a planned impact between an asteroid and a spacecraft, astronomers wondered: could we detect colliding pairs of natural asteroids? The post Possibility of Detecting Clumsy Aster...
Characterization of High-Priority Landing Sites for Robotic Exploration Missions in the Apollo Basin, Moon
Csilla Orgel et al 2024 Planet. Sci. J. 5 29 The South Pole–Aitken basin, the oldest and largest lunar impact structure, is a rich site for exploration, with a high chance of a safe landing, ab...
Ice Trapped in Craters on Ceres Is Surprisingly Young
The dwarf planet Ceres hosts water ice in cold, shadowed craters. New research suggests that these ice deposits are remarkably young. The post Ice Trapped in Craters on Ceres Is Surprisingly Yo...
Numerical Simulation on Leading Edge of Coronal Mass Ejection in Near-Sun Region
Zhixing Mei et al 2023 ApJ 958 15 Simulations explore the properties of the leading edge of coronal mass ejections; this bright feature is one of the three structural parts commonly seen in these...
Systematically Measuring Ultra-Diffuse Galaxies (SMUDGes). VI. Nuclear Star Clusters
Mika Lambert et al 2024 AJ 167 61 A search for the dense star clusters that inhabit the innermost regions of a galaxy finds 325 galaxies with this type of cluster, including 33 galaxies classifie...
The Case of Shrinking Planets
Astrobites reports on whether photoevaporation or core-powered mass loss is more likely to be responsible for the exoplanet radius gap. The post The Case of Shrinking Planets appeared first on...
Early Observations May Separate “Ordinary” Supernovae from Intriguing Ones
If caught just a few days later, SN 2022jox would've looked like just another ordinary core-collapse supernova, but early observations set it apart, revealing the gas expelled in the star's final...
The Large Magellanic Cloud’s ∼30 kpc Bow Shock and Its Impact on the Circumgalactic Medium
David J. Setton et al 2023 ApJL 959 L11 New maps of one of the Milky Way’s satellite galaxies show evidence for the shock thought to form due to the galaxy’s motion relative to the Milky Way�...
Devising a Test for Special Relativity
New research explores a way to probe for cracks in special relativity with a subtle measurement of gamma-ray photons. The post Devising a Test for Special Relativity appeared first on AAS Nova...
An Asymmetric Double-Degenerate Type Ia Supernova Explosion with a Surviving Companion Star
Matthew R. Siebert et al 2023 ApJ 958 173 Researchers discover narrow calcium emission lines in the spectrum of a Type Ia supernova for the first time, possibly associated with the winds from a s...
Clouds and Clarity: Revisiting Atmospheric Feature Trends in Neptune-Size Exoplanets
Jonathan Brande et al 2024 ApJL 961 L23 Models of the spectra of Neptune-like exoplanets show that this class of planets tends to have high atmospheric metallicity and low sedimentation efficienc...
How to Tell Space Rocks from Space Junk
One person's space junk is another's research opportunity: scientists study an artificial object mistaken for an asteroid to understand how to identify these objects in future surveys. The post...
Is the Atmosphere of the Ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-121 b Variable?
Q. Changeat et al 2024 ApJS 270 34 Simulations of high-resolution observations of an ultra-hot Jupiter suggest that this planet’s atmosphere is variable, changing on a timescale of five of its ...
Ultra-Faint Dwarf Galaxies: Not as Small as We Thought?
Astrobites reports on how astronomers use pulsating stars to look for stellar halos around ultra-faint dwarf galaxies, some of the smallest galaxies in the universe. The post Ultra-Faint Dwarf ...
Integral Field Spectroscopy of 13 Tidal Disruption Event Hosts from the Zwicky Transient Facility Survey
Erica Hammerstein et al 2023 ApJ 957 86 An investigation into galaxies that host tidal disruption events suggests that these galaxies preferentially have lower-mass supermassive black holes and m...
Featured Image: A Suite of Exploding Stars
A new suite of supernova simulations allows researchers to find correlations between the properties of these cosmic explosions and properties of the stars they came from. The post Featured Imag...
Auroras on Planets Around Pulsars
Ruchi Mishra et al 2023 ApJL 959 L13 Modeling shows that auroras on planets orbiting pulsars may be detectable with current instruments; such a detection would allow us to probe the atmospheres o...
Cosmic Rays Near and Far
How do cosmic rays move through the galaxy? Thanks to data collected by the aging Voyager 1 spacecraft, astronomers are closer to finding out. The post Cosmic Rays Near and Far appeared first ...
Free-Floating or Wide-Orbit? Keck Adaptive-Optics Observati...ing Planet Candidates Detected with Gravitational Microlensing
Przemek Mróz et al 2024 AJ 167 40 Planets detected via gravitational microlensing might either be at very wide separations from their host stars or lack host stars entirely; a search for the hos...
Organic Hazes as a Source of Life’s Building Blocks to Warm Little Ponds on the Hadean Earth
Ben K. D. Pearce et al 2024 Planet. Sci. J. 5 23 Laboratory experiments show that critical components for life could have reached concentrations high enough to form the building blocks of DNA and...
Measuring Ages from Craters on Giant Planet Satellites
The cratered surfaces of our solar system's moons record impacts reaching back billions of years. How do researchers measure the ages of these surfaces, and what can these ages tell us about how ...
Shocks Power Tidal Disruption Events
Taeho Ryu et al 2023 ApJ 957 12 Using a fully relativistic global simulation, researchers modeled the long-term behavior of the debris created during a tidal disruption event, when a star in ripp...
RNO 54: A Previously Unappreciated FU Ori Star
Lynne A. Hillenbrand et al 2023 ApJL 958 L27 RNO 54, an isolated young stellar object with a comet-like nebula, has been found to belong to the rare class of FU Orionis stars, which have bright i...
Tragic Tidal Disruption Events: How Black Holes Shred Stars
Astrobites reports on a tragic final encounter between a supermassive black hole and a stellar neighbor that came a bit too close. The post Tragic Tidal Disruption Events: How Black Holes Shred...
Searching for Planets Orbiting Fomalhaut with JWST/NIRCam
Marie Ygouf et al 2024 AJ 167 26 JWST’s sensitive near-infrared camera failed to detect the planet candidate Fomalhaut b, supporting the conclusion that this object is instead a dust cloud; fol...
Monthly Roundup: Solar Science on a Solar Eclipse Day!
Take a moment to delve into three solar physics research articles with us today to learn how researchers are studying our home star. The post Monthly Roundup: Solar Science on a Solar Eclipse D...
Transition Probabilities of Near-Infrared Ce III Lines from Stellar Spectra: Applications to Kilonovae
Nanae Domoto et al 2023 ApJ 956 113 What do cerium atoms have to do with collisions of neutron stars? Researchers have confirmed that several absorption features in the spectrum of a kilonova obs...
What Do Accretion Disk Models Remember?
If simulations "remember" the conditions they started with, that could complicate the modeling of magnetized accretion disks around supermassive black holes. The post What Do Accretion Disk Mod...
Nebular C IVλ1550 Imaging of the Metal-Poor Starburst Mrk 71: Direct Evidence of Catastrophic Cooling
M. S. Oey et al 2023 ApJL 958 L10 Light from ionized carbon atoms reveals the workings of productive star-forming regions in a starburst galaxy; these observations illuminate the processes of ste...
Evidence Says Some Blue Stars Come from Two Stars
The merger of two stars can make a blue supergiant, suggesting that many of the galaxy's brightest stars are not born, but made. The post Evidence Says Some Blue Stars Come from Two Stars appe...
Deconstructing Alien Hunting
David Kipping and Jason Wright 2024 AJ 167 24 Given the difficulties of differentiating signs of extraterrestrial life from signals due to unknown physics or chemistry, it may be beneficial to se...
Ghost (Particle) Hunting in Gamma-ray Bursts
Astrobites reports on a study that aims to determine whether the sources of gamma-ray bursts could also be a source of ghostly neutrinos. The post Ghost (Particle) Hunting in Gamma-ray Bursts ...
Observations of the Crab Nebula and Pulsar with the Large-Sized Telescope Prototype of the Cherenkov Telescope Array
H. Abe et al 2023 ApJ 956 80 Observations of the Crab Nebula, the “standard candle” of gamma-ray astronomy, suggest that the prototype of a next-generation ground-based gamma-ray telescope is...
Polarimetry of Didymos–Dimorphos: Unexpected Long-Term Effects of the DART Impact
Zuri Gray et al 2024 Planet. Sci. J. 5 18 After researchers crashed a spacecraft into it in September 2022, the Didymos–Dimorphos binary system showed a lower degree of polarization for months....
Featured Image: Giant Star-Forming Cloud
A giant star-forming region in the Milky Way has a new infrared portrait, thanks to a telescope flying through the stratosphere. The post Featured Image: Giant Star-Forming Cloud appeared firs...
The Presolar Grain Database. I. Silicon Carbide
Thomas Stephan et al 2024 ApJS 270 27 A new database will aid in the study of presolar grains, which are formed during the late stages of stellar evolution and give a detailed look at the history...
Making Computers Count Pulses
Fitting models to pulsar arrival times is typically a tricky business. A new algorithm might let computers take on some of the decision-making burdens. The post Making Computers Count Pulses a...
What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You: Use and Abuse of Astrophysical Models in Gravitational-Wave Population Analyses
April Qiu Cheng et al 2023 ApJ 955 127 Researchers show that interpretations of gravitational wave signals are sensitive to the models used to generate them, especially in cases where one or few ...
A New Way of Looking at the Milky Way’s Supermassive Black Hole
The Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration has analyzed data that show our home galaxy's central black hole in a new light — polarized light, to be precise. The post A New Way of Looking at th...
Improved Period Variations of 32 Contact Binaries with Rapidly Decreasing Periods in the Galactic Bulge
Kyeongsoo Hong et al 2024 AJ 167 18 Sometimes, stars in binary systems are so close that they actually touch, eventually leading to a merger that may be a luminous red nova — a class of explos...
How to Tell If a Black Hole Is Making Your Fairy Lights Twinkle
Astrobites reports on how we can find isolated black holes by searching for the twinkling of stars that these black holes pass in front of. The post How to Tell If a Black Hole Is Making Your F...
The First X-ray Polarization Observation of the Black Hole X-ray Binary 4U 1630–47 in the Steep Power-Law State
Nicole Rodriguez Cavero et al 2023 ApJL 958 L8 The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer gives a new look at 4U 1630–47, a binary system likely containing a star and a black hole, allowing for new...
The Effect of Salinity on Ocean Circulation and Ice–Ocean Interaction on Enceladus
Yaoxuan Zeng and Malte F. Jansen 2024 Planet. Sci. J. 5 13 The ice shell on Saturn’s moon Enceladus appears to be thicker at the equator that at the poles, which simulations suggest is due to a...
Crystallization, Convection, and a Magnetic White Dwarf Mystery
When white dwarfs begin to crystallize, can the change prompt the formation of magnetic fields millions of times stronger than Earth's? The post Crystallization, Convection, and a Magnetic Whit...
Bioverse: The Habitable Zone Inner Edge Discontinuity as an Imprint of Runaway Greenhouse Climates on Exoplanet Demographics
Martin Schlecker et al 2024 Planet. Sci. J. 5 3 The existence of runaway-greenhouse planets may create a discontinuity in radius–density space, and the PLAnetary Transits and Oscillation of sta...
AAS Media Fellowship Now Open for Applications
Are you an astronomy graduate student who’s interested in science communication? Apply for the AAS Media Fellowship by June 21! The post AAS Media Fellowship Now Open for Applications appear...
Little Red Dots or Brown Dwarfs? NIRSpec Discovery of Three...ding as NIRCam-Selected Highly Reddened Active Galactic Nuclei
Danial Langeroodi and Jens Hjorth 2023 ApJL 957 L27 Several purported high-redshift active galactic nuclei identified in JWST images have been revealed via spectroscopy to instead be brown dwarfs...
JWST/NIRSpec Observations of the Coldest Known Brown Dwarf
K. L. Luhman et al 2024 AJ 167 5 Brown dwarf WISE J085510.83−071442.5 has an effective temperature of just 285K — that’s a comfortable springtime temperature of 53℉ (12℃) — and a seem...
Modeling a Conversation Between a Black Hole and Its Galaxy
A new modeling technique lets black holes and their surroundings "talk" more easily, allowing researchers to simulate the complicated physics of accretion and feedback. The post Modeling a Conv...
The 80s Called, They Want Their Ultra-Long-Period Radio Transient Back
Astrobites reports on two objects whose unusually spaced-out radio pulses have puzzled astronomers. Could these objects be white dwarfs or magnetars? The post The 80s Called, They Want Their Ul...
The Search for Thermonuclear Transients from the Tidal Disruption of a White Dwarf by an Intermediate-Mass Black Hole
Sebastian Gomez and Suvi Gezari 2023 ApJ 955 46 Researchers identify one particularly promising candidate event that may be the disruption of a white dwarf by a black hole with a mass less than 1...
Featured Image: Mapping Matter in the Universe
Researchers measure tiny distortions in the oldest light in the universe to determine where matter is concentrated. The post Featured Image: Mapping Matter in the Universe appeared first on AA...
Fourteen Years of Energetic Neutral Atom Observations from IBEX
D. J. McComas et al 2024 ApJS 270 17 The Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) team presents the three most recent years of data, explores long-term variations, and provides maps that separate th...
Bioverse: The Habitable Zone Inner Edge Discontinuity as an Imprint of Runaway Greenhouse Climates on Exoplanet Demographics
Martin Schlecker et al 2024 Planet. Sci. J. 5 3 The existence of runaway greenhouse planets may create a discontinuity in radius–density space, and the PLAnetary Transits and Oscillation of sta...
How to Slice a Star
Massive stars are not typically inclined to go gentle into the good night. Some, new work suggests, might dramatically cut themselves in two using a "relativistic blade." The post How to Slice ...
Little Red Dots or Brown Dwarfs? NIRSpec Discovery of Three...ding as NIRCam-Selected Highly Reddened Active Galactic Nuclei
Danial Langeroodi and Jens Hjorth 2023 ApJL 957 L27 Several purported high-redshift active galactic nuclei identified in JWST images have been revealed via spectroscopy to instead be brown dwarfs...
Monthly Roundup: Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse
Three recent studies of the famous red supergiant examine the aftermath of the Great Dimming, probe the possibility of a stellar merger, and reconsider some critical evidence that suggests that B...
Impact of Pycnonuclear Fusion Uncertainties on the Cooling of Accreting Neutron Star Crusts
R. Jain et al 2023 ApJ 955 51 Researchers examine the importance of uncertain reaction rates on our calculations of pycnonuclear fusion — a type of slowly progressing nuclear fusion that rarely...
A First Glimpse of Changing-Look Active Galactic Nuclei with SDSS-V
Astrobites reports on the changing-look active galactic nuclei seen in the first year of the fifth Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The post A First Glimpse of Changing-Look Active Galactic Nuclei wit...
JWST Reveals Excess Cool Water near the Snow Line in Compact Disks, Consistent with Pebble Drift
Andrea Banzatti et al 2023 ApJL 957 L22 JWST confirms what was only hinted at by previous infrared telescopes: icy pebbles do migrate inward in compact disks more readily than they do in larger d...
K2-18b May Not Be Habitable After All
A new interpretation of JWST spectra suggests that exoplanet K2-18b is a gas-rich world without a habitable surface rather than an ocean world. The post K2-18b May Not Be Habitable After All a...
A Blind Search for Transit Depth Variability with TESS
Gavin Wang and Néstor Espinoza 2024 AJ 167 1 A search for transit depth variability among 330 previously discovered exoplanets turns up four promising candidates; of those four, only one has var...
Do Dwarf Galaxy Collisions Start or Stop Star Formation? Yes.
While collisions between dwarf galaxies usually result in bursts of star formation, new research suggests that galaxy interactions can also make star formation shut off. The post Do Dwarf Galax...
Imaging Lunar Craters with the Lucy Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (L’LORRI): A Resolution Test for NASA’s Lucy Mission
Stuart J. Robbins et al 2023 Planet. Sci. J. 4 234 The Lucy spacecraft, which in October 2021 began its journey to visit eight asteroids, took pictures of the Moon while getting a gravity assist ...
Identification of Blue Horizontal-Branch Stars from LAMOST DR5
Jie Ju et al 2024 ApJS 270 11 Using selection criteria based on several spectral lines, researchers have constructed a new catalog of more than 5,000 blue horizontal-branch stars, which are old, ...
When Stars, Disks, and Black Holes Meet, Outbursts Follow
New research explores how a star colliding with a disk of gas around a supermassive black hole might give rise to the quasi-periodic eruptions seen in certain galaxies. The post When Stars, Dis...
Unique Chemical Composition of the Very Metal-Poor Star LAMOST J1645+4357
Wako Aoki et al 2023 ApJ 955 28 Even among very metal-poor stars, LAMOST J1645+4357 is unusual, having unexpectedly much nitrogen and carbon, and unexpectedly little zinc, cobalt, and other eleme...
Sednoids: Echoes of a Rogue Planet in the Early Solar System?
Astrobites reports on the possibility that an ancient rogue planet is responsible for the unusual orbits of a trio of solar system objects called sednoids. The post Sednoids: Echoes of a Rogue ...
First M87 Event Horizon Telescope Results. IX. Detection of Near-Horizon Circular Polarization
The Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration et al 2023 ApJL 957 L20 Researchers find that the bright ring of light surrounding the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy Messier 87 is ...
High-Redshift Galaxy Candidates at z = 9–10 as Revealed by JWST Observations of WHL0137-08
Larry D. Bradley et al 2023 ApJ 955 13 The bending of light by the massive gravity of a galaxy cluster enabled astronomers to discover four candidate galaxies just 450–600 million years after t...
Featured Image: Minidisks in Massive Binaries
Researchers investigate the behavior of minidisks: the small disks of gas that collect around the individual supermassive black holes in a binary pair. The post Featured Image: Minidisks in Mas...
Supernova Nickel and Neural Nets
To speed up their models of supernovae, astronomers are turning to neural networks for an AI-assist. The post Supernova Nickel and Neural Nets appeared first on AAS Nova .
Visible and Near-Infrared Spectral Properties of Martian Slope Streaks
H. H. Kaplan et al 2023 Planet. Sci. J. 4 232 The spectral changes seen in large-scale features on sloped surfaces on Mars are likely due to the removal of fine dust grains in the streak areas, w...
A Wolf 359 in Sheep’s Clothing: Hunting for Substellar Co...ng Combined High-Contrast Imaging and Radial Velocity Analysis
Rachel Bowens-Rubin et al 2023 AJ 166 260 A new look at a nearby M-dwarf star neither confirms nor refutes the existence of a close-in companion, but it does rule out the possibility that the com...
NGDEEP Epoch 1: The Faint End of the Luminosity Function at z ∼ 9–12 from Ultradeep JWST Imaging
Gene C. K. Leung et al 2023 ApJL 954 L46 JWST observations of faint galaxies in the early universe help to constrain how the process of stellar feedback — the heating and disruption of the int...
Hold On to Your Atmospheres: How Planet Size Affects Atmospheric Escape
New research challenges expectations that the smaller a planet is, the faster it will lose its atmosphere when exposed to fierce stellar winds and intense radiation. The post Hold On to Your At...
A Reemerging Bright Soft X-ray State of the Changing-Look Active Galactic Nucleus 1ES 1927+654: A Multiwavelength View
Ritesh Ghosh et al 2023 ApJ 955 3 Strange times for 1ES 1927+654: This nearby active galactic nucleus pumps out more energy in soft (low-energy) X-rays than in hard (high-energy) X-rays or ultrav...
Ripples in Time: The Transient Nature of Mysterious M Stars
Astrobites reports on a class of stars known as complex periodic variables and the possible causes of their variations. The post Ripples in Time: The Transient Nature of Mysterious M Stars app...
Have We Found a Direct Descendant of the First Stars?
A metal-poor star in the Milky Way's halo may have formed from the remains of the very first stars to flicker into existence, opening a window into the properties of our universe's original stars...
Solar Observations by Angelo Secchi. I. Digitization of Ori...s and Analysis of Group Numbers over the Period of 1853–1878
I. Ermolli et al 2023 ApJS 269 53 Researchers report results from the digitized drawings and personal notebooks of a prominent 19th-century Italian scientist who observed the Sun for more than 25...
Three-Dimensional General-Relativistic Simulations of Neutrino-Driven Winds from Magnetized Proto-neutron Stars
Dhruv K. Desai et al 2023 ApJ 954 192 New simulations examine the prospect of forming heavy elements via rapid capture of neutrons in the hot outflows of proton-neutron stars that form after a su...
Monthly Roundup: Discovering, Modeling, and Characterizing Pulsars
Dive into three recent research articles that explore how pulsars are detected, where their pulses come from, and how they interact with their surroundings. The post Monthly Roundup: Discoverin...
Is the M81 Fast Radio Burst Host Globular Cluster Special?
Kristen C. Dage et al 2023 ApJL 957 L17 The globular cluster that houses a repeating fast radio burst may have a moderately high stellar encounter rate, which allows the possibility that the burs...
Synthetic Detections of Interstellar Objects with the Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time
Dušan Marčeta and Darryl Z. Seligman 2023 Planet. Sci. J. 4 230 The upcoming survey to be conducted with the Rubin Observatory will detect between 0 and 70 interstellar asteroids each year, cal...
Magnetic Last Moments
Brown dwarfs unlucky enough to orbit black widow pulsars can't survive forever, and recent radio observations are providing new insights into their untimely ends. The post Magnetic Last Moments...
Does Active Galactic Nucleus Feedback Cause Our Universe to Take a Cosmic Afternoon Nap?
Astrobites reports on an investigation into whether active galactic nucleus feedback can shut down star formation in galaxies. The post Does Active Galactic Nucleus Feedback Cause Our Universe ...
Considering the Single and Binary Origins of the Type IIP SN 2017eaw
K. Azalee Bostroem et al 2023 AJ 166 255 A substantial fraction of Type II supernovae arise from stars in binary systems, and studying the surrounding population of stars is a powerful way to gau...
Efficiency of Magnetohydrodynamic Wave Generation in Weakly Ionized Atmospheres
Paul S. Cally 2023 ApJ 954 85 A new look at how waves are generated in weakly ionized plasmas suggests that substantial wave flux can be generated even if the way of generating the waves acts onl...
JWST Photographs Possible Giant Planets Around White Dwarfs
Researchers may have spotted two giant exoplanets around white dwarfs, providing evidence that the giant planets in our solar system will survive the Sun's red giant phase. The post JWST Photog...
Survey of Bare Active Galactic Nuclei in the Local Universe (z < 0.2). I. On the Origin of Soft Excess
Prantik Nandi et al 2023 ApJS 269 15 “Bare” active galactic nuclei — accreting supermassive black holes with spectra uncomplicated by absorption features — have an unexplained excess of s...
A Formation Mechanism for “Wrong Way” Radio Relics
Ludwig M. Böss et al 2023 ApJL 957 L16 When an infalling galaxy meets an outward-moving shock wave, it can invert the typical arc-like shape of a radio relic and create a “wrong way” relic i...
Passing Stars Shake Up Simulations of Earth’s Past Orbit and Climate
Stars passing within a few light-years of our solar system add an element of chaos to planetary orbits, limiting how far back we can study Earth's past orbit. The post Passing Stars Shake Up Si...
Multiwavelength Observations of the Blazar PKS 0735+178 in ...dence with an Astrophysical Neutrino Candidate IceCube-211208A
A. Acharyya et al 2023 ApJ 954 70 A new study examines the possible connection between a blazar and a neutrino source, using multi-wavelength observations of the blazar to constrain the neutrino ...
Making Sense of Convoluted Images
Astrobites reports on using deconvolution methods to see hidden features in a JWST image of an active galactic nucleus. The post Making Sense of Convoluted Images appeared first on AAS Nova .
JWST-TST DREAMS: Quartz Clouds in the Atmosphere of WASP-17b
David Grant et al 2023 ApJL 956 L29 A single transit of the exoplanet WASP-17b across the face of its host star revealed that the planet has a cloudy atmosphere, and those clouds may be composed ...
Water-Ice Weathering in Permanently Shadowed Craters on the Moon
New research investigates how ice might alter lunar soil and create fine particles in permanently shadowed lunar craters. The post Water-Ice Weathering in Permanently Shadowed Craters on the Mo...
How Important Are Initial Conditions in Models of the Solar Corona?
Researchers explore whether the choice of initial magnetic field impacts the outcome for models of the solar corona. The post How Important Are Initial Conditions in Models of the Solar Corona?...
Investigating Diurnal and Seasonal Turbulence Variations of the Martian Atmosphere Using a Spectral Approach
Naomi Murdoch et al 2023 Planet. Sci. J. 4 222 Using data from the InSight mission to Mars, researchers have studied the trends in wind speed and atmospheric pressure on the red planet. The pos...
SN 2020bio: A Double-Peaked, H-Poor Type IIb Supernova with Evidence of Circumstellar Interaction
C. Pellegrino et al 2023 ApJ 954 35 SN 2020bio’s unusual properties suggest that it resulted from the explosion of a lower-mass progenitor (likely around 12 solar masses) that lost most of its ...
Even Dark Sky Sites Aren’t Immune to Light Pollution
Researchers quantified the impact of artificial lighting on sites across Chile for the first time, showing that we must actively preserve dark skies in remote areas and urban corridors alike. T...
A Lithium Depletion Age for the Carina Association
Mackenna L. Wood et al 2023 AJ 166 247 A new age of 41 million years has been calculated for the Carina association, one of the closest stellar associations to Earth; this age is consistent with ...
An ALMA-Resolved View of 7000 au Protostellar Gas Ring Arou...Source CrA-IRS 2 as a Possible Sign of Magnetic Flux Advection
Kazuki Tokuda et al 2023 ApJL 956 L16 A ring-like structure surrounding a protostar is difficult to explain with well-studied phenomena like molecular outflows and instead may be a sign of magnet...
Sloshing in the Universe’s Biggest Bathtub
Astrobites reports on the exciting goings-on around the sloshing center of the galaxy cluster Abell 2495. The post Sloshing in the Universe’s Biggest Bathtub appeared first on AAS Nova .
Featured Image: How Close Is Too Close to a Kilonova?
How far do we need to be from a kilonova to be safe from the explosion's X-rays, gamma rays, and cosmic rays? The post Featured Image: How Close Is Too Close to a Kilonova? appeared first on A...
Diffuse Neutrino Flux Based on the Rates of Core-Collapse S...rmation Deduced from a Novel Galactic Chemical Evolution Model
Yosuke Ashida et al 2023 ApJ 953 151 By tuning rates of star formation and black hole formation, researchers explore the likely rates of neutrino detection by the Super-Kamiokande and Hyper-Kamio...
Fast Radio Bursts: Electromagnetic Counterparts to Extreme Mass-Ratio Inspirals
Rui-Nan Li et al 2023 ApJL 956 L2 Researchers explore the possibility that fast radio bursts are produced when neutron stars spiral into supermassive black holes and describe the implications of ...
What Kind of World is LHS 1140 b?
One of the most popular planets is also maddeningly ambiguous: is LHS 1140 b rocky, watery, or gaseous? The post What Kind of World is LHS 1140 b? appeared first on AAS Nova .
Aliphatics and Aromatics in the Universe: The Pre-JWST Era
X. J. Yang and Aigen Li 2023 ApJS 268 50 A new framework allows researchers to determine the small fraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (sooty molecules mostly made up of rings of carbon ...
How to Peel a Star Apart with a Black Hole
You can take a star apart layer by layer — all you'll need is a black hole and a set of precisely tuned orbital parameters. The post How to Peel a Star Apart with a Black Hole appeared first...
A Bright First Day for Tidal Disruption Events
Xiaoshan Huang et al 2023 ApJ 953 117 New simulations focus on how the radiation from a ripped-apart star affects the momentum and energy of the gas, influencing the emission seen during a tidal ...
On the Magnetic Nature of Quiet-Sun Chromospheric Grains
María Jesús Martínez González et al 2023 ApJL 955 L40 Researchers report on the causes of chromospheric grains, which are brief, periodic, tiny brightenings of the solar chromosphere seen in ...
Two Small Magellanic Clouds Are Better than One
Astrobites reports on the recent exciting discovery that the Small Magellanic Cloud is actually composed of two distinct star-forming systems. The post Two Small Magellanic Clouds Are Better th...
Monthly Roundup: Supernovae in the Spotlight
Today's post introduces four research articles that examine various aspects of supernova science, from attempts to determine how lightweight a supernova progenitor star can be to exploring why so...
SOFIA FEEDBACK Survey: The Pillars of Creation in and Molecular Lines
Ramsey L. Karim et al 2023 AJ 166 240 The famous Pillars of Creation are short-lived, astronomically speaking, with a new study estimating that they will disperse in just 1-2 million years. The...
Using Ancient Ultraviolet Light to Probe Theories of Cosmology
Could measuring ultraviolet light from small galaxies in the early universe help researchers test the leading theory of cosmology? The post Using Ancient Ultraviolet Light to Probe Theories of ...
Titania’s Heat Fluxes Revealed by Messina Chasmata
Chloe B. Beddingfield et al 2023 Planet. Sci. J. 4 211 The heat flux measured via a tectonic structure on the largest moon of Uranus can be explained by radiogenic heating if the region is ancien...
Comparing Early Evolution of Flames in X-ray Bursts in Two and Three Dimensions
Michael Zingale et al 2023 ApJ 952 160 Two- and three-dimensional simulations illuminate the ignition and spreading of flames during an X-ray burst, when gas accreted onto the surface of a neutro...
Dissociative Recombination of Rotationally Cold OH+ and Its Implications for the Cosmic Ray Ionization Rate in Diffuse Clouds
Ábel Kálosi et al 2023 ApJL 955 L26 Using a combination of laboratory experiments and modeling, researchers suggest that the degree of cosmic ray shielding in interstellar clouds is greater tha...
Are Binary Black Hole Spins and Mass Ratios Correlated?
Researchers have used new models to explore whether reported correlations in the properties of black hole binary systems are real or just a consequence of previous statistical methods. The post...
An Exploration of AGN and Stellar Feedback Effects in the Intergalactic Medium via the Low-Redshift Lyα Forest
Megan Taylor Tillman et al 2023 AJ 166 228 An important observational feature appears to be sensitive to several factors, including stellar and active galactic nucleus feedback, which heat up the...
Tilted Tatooines Can Serve as a Source of Strange Solo Planets
Astrobites reports on how the messy evolution of tilted planetary systems around binary stars could help explain the existence of free-floating planets. The post Tilted Tatooines Can Serve as a...
Particle In Cell Simulations of Mildly Relativistic Outflows in Kilonova Emissions
Mohira Rassel et al 2023 ApJ 952 165 New simulations help to inform our understanding of the late-time signals from electromagnetic counterparts of neutron star mergers detected via gravitational...
Featured Image: Lensed Quasars and the Hubble Constant
Quasars that have been gravitationally lensed by galaxy clusters provide a way to measure the expansion rate of the universe and possibly alleviate the Hubble tension. The post Featured Image: ...
Tidally Excited Inertial Waves in Stars and Planets: Explor...-Dependent and Averaged Dissipation with Nonlinear Simulations
Aurélie Astoul and Adrian J. Barker 2023 ApJL 955 L23 Researchers have developed a new model that will be useful in studies of tidal interactions between low-mass stars in close binaries and bet...
The AAS Goes to LIGO
Following the recent AAS meeting, the AAS Press team led a group of reporters to LIGO Livingston to learn about the history and future of gravitational wave detections. The post The AAS Goes to...
A Rotating Accretion Disk Around MWC 297, a Young B1.5Ve Star
Göran Sandell and William Vacca 2023 AJ 166 216 A 10-solar-mass B-type star is the first of its spectral type known to have an accretion disk exhibiting Keplerian rotation traced by carbon monox...
Core States of Neutron Stars from Anatomizing Their Scaled Structure Equations
Bao-Jun Cai et al 2023 ApJ 952 147 Using a combination of theory and observations from multiple sources, researchers have narrowly constrained the equation of state of the center of a neutron sta...
Four Pulsars Discovered in New Survey
A pilot survey that scanned a small area of the sky with the world's largest radio dish has discovered four new pulsars, including two millisecond pulsars. The post Four Pulsars Discovered in N...
What Drives Chemistry in a Protoplanetary Disk?
Astrobites reports on using machine learning to make tracing the complex chemistry of protoplanetary disks a little easier. The post What Drives Chemistry in a Protoplanetary Disk? appeared fi...
Composition and Sticking of Hot Chondritic Dust in a Protoplanetary Hydrogen Atmosphere
Cynthia Pillich et al 2023 Planet. Sci. J. 4 195 In lab experiments, tiny cylinders made from meteorite dust remained intact longer under hotter temperatures, suggesting that dust in protoplaneta...
Open Data from the Third Observing Run of LIGO, Virgo, KAGRA and GEO
R. Abbott et al 2023 ApJS 267 29 More than 80 signals originating from the mergers of compact objects like neutron stars and black holes can be found in the catalog of gravitational-wave events s...
AAS 243: Day 4
On the final day of AAS 243, we heard about a curious gamma-ray anisotropy, the role of small bodies in the solar system, and the relic of an active galactic nucleus's eruption. The post AAS 24...
The Prevalence and Influence of Circumstellar Material Around Hydrogen-Rich Supernova Progenitors
Rachel J. Bruch et al 2023 ApJ 952 119 A survey of 30 supernovae for which spectra were acquired less than two days after the explosion suggests that short-lived, narrow emission lines are common...
AAS 243: Day 3
Day 3 of AAS 243 brought an investigation of inflation, discussions of neutron stars, and a spectacular star that contains the signature of a supernova 13 billion years ago. The post AAS 243: D...
TOI-199 b: A Well-Characterized 100-day Transiting Warm Giant Planet with TTVs Seen from Antarctica
Melissa J. Hobson et al 2023 AJ 166 201 The warm, Saturn-size planet TOI-199 b is the first of its class for which we have precise mass and radius measurements, thanks to the Antarctica Search fo...
AAS 243: Day 2
Day 2 of AAS 243 brought investigations into brown dwarfs, discussions on dark matter, and a look at what we would learn from a radio telescope on the Moon. The post AAS 243: Day 2 appeared fi...
Extreme Variability in a Long-Duration Gamma-ray Burst Associated with a Kilonova
P. Veres et al 2023 ApJL 954 L5 The length-based classification scheme of gamma-ray bursts came under strain when a long (i.e., collapsar-based) gamma-ray burst was found to accompany colliding n...
AAS 243: Day 1
On Day 1 of AAS 243, we heard about ORCs (not of the Tolkien variety), aromatic molecules, and the rarity of life in the universe. The post AAS 243: Day 1 appeared first on AAS Nova .
Fitting the Light Curve of 1I/’Oumuamua with a Nonprincipal Axis Rotational Model and Outgassing Torques
Aster G. Taylor et al 2023 Planet. Sci. J. 4 186 The complex rotation of the first interstellar object discovered traversing our solar system continues to inspire research; this work investigates...
AAS 243: Welcome!
This week we’ll be bringing you updates from the 243rd AAS meeting happening in New Orleans, LA. The post AAS 243: Welcome! appeared first on AAS Nova .
AAS Publishing at AAS 243 in New Orleans
The AAS publishing team is excited to engage with the community at the upcoming AAS meeting. Check out what they'll be up to at the meeting! The post AAS Publishing at AAS 243 in New Orleans a...
Hydrodynamic Mixing of Accretion Disk Outflows in Collapsars: Implications for r-process Signatures
Jennifer Barnes and Paul C. Duffell 2023 ApJ 952 96 The longest long-duration gamma-ray bursts may be a good place to look for gas rich in r-process elements: elements that are made in hot, dense...
First Detection of X-ray Polarization from the Accreting Neutron Star 4U 1820−303
Alessandro Di Marco et al 2023 ApJL 953 L22 A highly confident detection of polarized X-rays from an accreting, weakly magnetized neutron star has allowed researchers to assess the source’s acc...
The Most Sensitive SETI Observations Toward Barnard’s Star with FAST
Zhen-Zhao Tao et al 2023 AJ 166 190 In the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, researchers are interested in Barnard’s star, the second-closest star system to Earth, and have predicted wh...
The Rainbow Village at AAS: A Gathering Place for People of Color in Astronomy
Astrobites introduces the Rainbow Village, a new initiative to bring together astronomers of color at the upcoming AAS meeting in New Orleans. The post The Rainbow Village at AAS: A Gathering P...
Dusting for Spectral Fingerprints to Determine the Origins of Stars in the Milky Way Halo
Astrobites reports on the use of high-resolution spectroscopy to trace the origins of a metal-poor star in the Milky Way halo. The post Dusting for Spectral Fingerprints to Determine the Origin...
Chandra, HST/STIS, NICER, Swift, and TESS Detail the Flare Evolution of the Repeating Nuclear Transient ASASSN-14ko
Anna V. Payne et al 2023 ApJ 951 134 Multiwavelength observations suggest that ASASSN-14ko is a repeating tidal disruption event — a star being torn apart bit by bit by a supermassive black ho...
Looking Back on Astronomy in 2023 with AAS Nova
Check out the top astronomy stories we covered on AAS Nova in 2023! The post Looking Back on Astronomy in 2023 with AAS Nova appeared first on AAS Nova .
Optical Constants of Martian Dust Analogs at UV–Visible–Near-infrared Wavelengths
Julia Martikainen et al 2023 ApJS 268 47 A new model used to characterize Martian dust analogs takes into account irregularly shaped dust particles and can be used in scattering and radiative-tra...
Selections from 2023: A Dusty, Elongated Gas Cloud in the Galactic Center
A gas cloud near the galactic center, headed for destruction in 2036, may have been ejected during a recent stellar merger. The post Selections from 2023: A Dusty, Elongated Gas Cloud in the Ga...
Two Seismic Events from InSight Confirmed as New Impacts on Mars
Ingrid J. Daubar et al 2023 Planet. Sci. J. 4 175 Seismic events picked up by the InSight lander have been definitively linked to new impact craters on Mars, bringing the total number of impact-r...
Selections from 2023: Do Waves or Nanoflares Heat the Solar Corona?
A massive study of solar flares allowed researchers to assess whether nanoflares are solely responsible for heating the solar corona. The post Selections from 2023: Do Waves or Nanoflares Heat ...
Snowflakes in a Furnace: Formation of CO and Dust in a Recurrent Nova Eruption
D. P. K. Banerjee et al 2023 ApJL 954 L16 Researchers have detected molecules and dust in a recurrent nova — a decidedly hostile environment that may contain a narrow region capable of forming ...
Selections from 2023: The Coolest Sub-stellar Source of Radio Waves
Researchers have discovered and characterized the smallest and coolest radio-emitting sub-stellar object — a brown dwarf with spectral type T8. The post Selections from 2023: The Coolest Sub-...
The Radial Distribution of Ion-Scale Waves in the Inner Heliosphere
Wen Liu et al 2023 ApJ 951 69 The solar wind is filled with waves of oscillating plasma, and ion waves appear to be more common closer to the Sun than farther away, due to the factors that excite...
Selections from 2023: Living on the Edge of Night and Day
On some exoplanets, a narrow region where it's permanently dawn or dusk may be the only place that's habitable. The amount of water on these planets plays a surprising role in whether it stays th...
Magnitude Estimates for the Carrington Flare in 1859 September: As Seen from the Original Records
Hisashi Hayakawa et al 2023 ApJL 954 L3 Based on eyewitness drawings by Carrington himself, researchers have assigned an unprecedented classification of X80 for this famous benchmark flare. The...
Selections from 2023: Surveying the Galactic Plane
More than 3 billion objects have been catalogued in the Dark Energy Camera Plane Survey, which this year released its second batch of data. The post Selections from 2023: Surveying the Galactic...
False Planets Around Giant Stars: A Case Study of Sanders 364 in M67
Qijia Zhou et al 2023 AJ 166 160 Discovering exoplanets around giant stars is difficult because these stars are inherently variable, showing slow radial velocity changes that can be mistaken for ...
Selections from 2023: A Mysterious Nebula Near Andromeda
Though the Andromeda Galaxy has been photographed countless times, a team of amateur astronomers has found that it still holds some mysteries. The post Selections from 2023: A Mysterious Nebula...
Stable Brine Layers Beneath Europa’s Chaos
C. J. Chivers et al 2023 Planet. Sci. J. 4 159 Modeling of Europa’s broken and jumbled chaos terrain supports the idea that there may be shallow reservoirs of salty water embedded within the mo...
Selections from 2023: Sharpening Our Images of a Supermassive Black Hole
In April 2019, the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration released the first image of a supermassive black hole. This image was far from the last, and new algorithms have brought the data into sha...
Kinematics of the Local Spiral Structure Revealed by Young Stars in Gaia DR3
Dejian Liu et al 2023 ApJS 268 46 Researchers are using the positions of young stars to disentangle the spiral structure of our home galaxy, which is key to understanding how our galaxy formed an...
JWST: The World’s Most Sophisticated Carbon Monoxide Detector
Astronomers were pretty sure that WASP-39 b's atmosphere was filled with carbon monoxide. Now, thanks to innovative use of a technique that hadn't previously been used on JWST data, they've found...
Revealing the Dynamic Magnetoionic Environments of Repeatin...urces through Multiyear Polarimetric Monitoring with CHIME/FRB
R. Mckinven et al 2023 ApJ 951 82 Multiple years of keeping tabs on a dozen repeating fast radio bursts has revealed that these bursts are more likely to have variable or extreme rotation measure...
DELVE 6: An Ancient, Ultra-faint Star Cluster on the Outskirts of the Magellanic Clouds
W. Cerny et al 2023 ApJL 953 L21 A newly discovered ultra-faint star cluster has intriguing but uncertain origins: kinematic data can’t yet tell us whether the cluster belongs to the Milky Way,...
Monthly Roundup: The Sun, Space Weather, and Solar Flares
Four research articles take on small-scale phenomena in coronal plumes, the question of magnetic reconnection, red-winged flares, and solar wind forecasts. The post Monthly Roundup: The Sun, Sp...
Misaligned Jets from Sgr A* and the Origin of Fermi/eROSITA Bubbles
Kartick C. Sarkar et al 2023 ApJ 951 36 Low-luminosity jets and winds from supernovae or tidal disruption events are the only remaining explanation for the Fermi/eROSITA bubbles, according to rec...
Measuring the Temperature of Starspots from Multi-filter Photometry
Maria C. Schutte et al 2023 AJ 166 92 A new modeling method allows for researchers to determine the temperature of a starspot from just one passage of an exoplanet over the spot, as demonstrated ...
Siblings or Only Children: M-dwarf Planets
Astrobites reports on the differences between planets orbiting M dwarfs in single-planet and multi-planet systems. The post Siblings or Only Children: M-dwarf Planets appeared first on AAS Nov...
Electron-Impact Excitation of Pt I–III: The Importance of...lision Processes in Neutron Star Merger and Laboratory Plasmas
S. J. Bromley et al 2023 ApJS 268 22 New calculations of collisional cross sections of certain elements can improve our molding and our understanding of kilonovae, the explosions caused by collid...
Featured Image: Surveying the Milky Way’s Faint X-ray Sources
The first phase of a survey designed to discover faint X-ray sources in our galaxy is complete, resulting in the discovery of hundreds of new sources. The post Featured Image: Surveying the Mil...
Seventeen Days of X-rays with Circinus X-1
An investigation of a young neutron star in an X-ray binary system has led researchers to propose a new model that explains its complicated X-ray behavior. The post Seventeen Days of X-rays wit...
Demonstrating Photon Ring Existence with Single-Baseline Polarimetry
Daniel C. M. Palumbo et al 2023 ApJL 952 L31 Creating an extremely long baseline interferometer, such as could be achieved by placing a detector in space or upping the frequencies of our Earth-bo...
Crustal Failure as a Tool to Probe Hybrid Stars
Jonas P. Pereira et al 2023 ApJ 950 185 Neutron stars, the exceptionally dense remnants of massive stars, might contain cores of quark matter — a possibility that could be distinguished from a...
Predicting the Effect of Surface Properties on Enceladus for Landing
John M. Harmon et al 2023 Planet. Sci. J. 4 150 Placing a lander on the surface of Saturn’s moon Enceladus is astrobiologically appealing but logistically challenging; models suggest that the i...
A Radio Investigation of an Intermediate-Mass Black Hole Candidate
Between stellar-mass and supermassive black holes lie elusive intermediate-mass black holes. New radio data give insight into the nature of the promising intermediate-mass black hole candidate CX...
Forget X-ray Vision: Using Gravitational Waves to Peer Inside the Sun
Astrobites reports on the far-out possibility of using continuous gravitational waves from faraway pulsars to learn about the inside of the Sun. The post Forget X-ray Vision: Using Gravitationa...
Exploring the Extremes: Characterizing a New Population of Old and Cold Brown Dwarfs
Aaron M. Meisner et al 2023 AJ 166 57 Astronomers may have detected the first Y-type subdwarf, expanding our sample of brown dwarfs at the extreme low mass and temperature end of the spectral typ...
What Do Halo CMEs Tell Us about Solar Cycle 25?
Nat Gopalswamy et al 2023 ApJL 952 L13 As solar cycle 25 ramps up, so too do our predictions; researchers predict that the peak of the current solar cycle will be similar to the previous cycle or...
Dark Halos and Warped Disks
Can impact-tilted dark matter halos explain why so many spiral galaxies have warped disks? The post Dark Halos and Warped Disks appeared first on AAS Nova .
Exploring the Individual Pulse Behavior of Pulsar J1701−3726 with Parkes
H. Wang et al 2023 ApJ 950 166 Though pulsars are thought to spin extremely regularly, some pulsars show irregular behavior; J1701−3726 has a whole host of strange behaviors, including periods ...
Patience Rewarded with a Planet
A recently discovered exoplanet required immense patience to uncover, both from an international team of astronomers and from a plucky suitcase-sized satellite. The post Patience Rewarded with ...
General Physical Properties of Fermi Blazars
Yongyun Chen et al 2023 ApJS 268 6 Observations of more than 1,000 blazars — active galactic nuclei with jets pointed almost directly toward Earth — provide a way to investigate how these jet...
Evidence for Ubiquitous Carbon Grain Destruction in Hot Protostellar Envelopes
Pooneh Nazari et al 2023 ApJL 951 L38 Increased temperatures around protostars may result in the enhancement of oxygen-poor molecules like acetonitrile compared to oxygen-rich molecules like meth...
Investigation of a Nearby, Cold, and Young Brown Dwarf
Researchers have taken another look at a peculiar brown dwarf, highlighting the challenges of studying these cool, cloudy objects. The post Investigation of a Nearby, Cold, and Young Brown Dwar...
Let’s Be Real: A Call for Physically Realistic Assumptions
Astrobites reports on the assumptions used in photoionization models that affect our understanding of ionized gas clouds surrounding hot stars. The post Let’s Be Real: A Call for Physically R...
MASTER OT J030227.28+191754.5: A Dwarf Nova at a Massive Oxygen–Neon White Dwarf System?
Mariko Kimura et al 2023 ApJ 951 124 A cataclysmic variable system might be a precursor to a black widow pulsar system; if the system’s white dwarf accretes enough material, it will become a ne...
Featured Image: Solar Flares in Focus
A new catalog of solar flares aims to understand why some flares are accompanied by massive explosions of plasma and others are not. The post Featured Image: Solar Flares in Focus appeared fir...
Inner Planetary System Gap Complexity is a Predictor of Outer Giant Planets
Matthias Y. He and Lauren M. Weiss 2023 AJ 166 36 Planetary systems with giant outer planets may exhibit more irregular spacing between the inner planets compared to systems without giant planets...
The Spatial Distribution of the Unidentified 2.07-μm Absorption Feature on Europa and Implications for Its Origin
M. Ryleigh Davis et al 2023 Planet. Sci. J. 4 148 An absorption feature seen in the spectrum of Jupiter’s moon Europa continues to defy understanding, although researchers have placed a new low...
Sizing Up Neutron Stars with Gravitational Waves
How precise will our measurements of neutron star sizes be when future gravitational wave observatories come online? The post Sizing Up Neutron Stars with Gravitational Waves appeared first on...
Lepto-hadronic Interpretation of 2021 RS Ophiuchi Nova Outburst
Agnibha De Sarkar et al 2023 ApJ 951 62 RS Ophiuchi undergoes nova outbursts every 15–20 years, and new data in the very-high-energy gamma-ray regime have enabled researchers to test a new mode...
Monthly Roundup: TRAPPIST-1 Through the Eyes of JWST
Five articles provide perspectives on the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system, from JWST's first search for the innermost planets' atmospheres to the prospect of detecting life, should it exist. The po...
Two-for-One, Three Times: New Candidate Brown Dwarf Binaries
With the help of citizen scientists, astronomers have uncovered evidence that three previously observed sources are actually rare brown dwarf binaries. The post Two-for-One, Three Times: New Ca...
Investigating Possible Binarity for GJ 229B
Alex R. Howe et al 2023 ApJL 951 L25 If the model-confounding T-type brown dwarf GJ 229B is actually two brown dwarfs, that could provide a better fit to model parameters including temperature, m...
The Minimum Variation Timescales of X-ray Bursts from SGR J1935+2154
Shuo Xiao et al 2023 ApJS 268 5 X-ray bursts most commonly last about 2 milliseconds, which corresponds to an origin region of about 600 kilometers; this supports the hypothesis that X-ray bursts...
An Explanation for the Overmassive Black Hole in the Dwarf Galaxy Leo I
Tidal stripping may explain why a tiny galaxy hosts a black hole nearly as massive as the Milky Way's central supermassive black hole. The post An Explanation for the Overmassive Black Hole in ...
Possible Counterpart Signal of the Fermi Bubbles at the Cosmic-Ray Positrons
Ilias Cholis and Iason Krommydas 2023 ApJ 950 120 An enhancement in the positron fraction (the number of positrons compared to positrons plus electrons) at an energy of 12 gigaelectronvolts could...
Type Ia Supernova Nucleosynthesis: Metallicity-Dependent Yields
James D. Keegans et al 2023 ApJS 268 8 Metallicity can have an effect on the elements created in Type Ia supernovae once the mass fraction of 22Ne (a stand-in for metallicity) reaches a level of ...
Setting the Speed Limit for Shock-Accelerated Cosmic Rays
Could supernova shocks be the source of charged particles accelerated up to quadrillions of electronvolts? The post Setting the Speed Limit for Shock-Accelerated Cosmic Rays appeared first on ...
A Cosmic Game of LEGO
Astrobites reports on how to identify merging galaxies and investigate the importance of these collisions over cosmic time. The post A Cosmic Game of LEGO appeared first on AAS Nova .
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Catalog Approach for Dark Siren Gravitational-Wave Cosmology
Jonathan R. Gair et al 2023 AJ 166 22 Even when the electromagnetic counterpart of a gravitational-wave signal can’t be identified, researchers have shown that a statistical approach can allow ...
An Observed Transition of Galaxy Spins on Void Surfaces
Jounghun Lee and Jun-Sung Moon 2023 ApJL 951 L26 Observations show for the first time that the spins of galaxies adjacent to cosmic voids — large regions containing almost no galaxies — switc...
Featured Image: Watching Waves in Sunspot Centers
Researchers analyze solar images to understand how umbral oscillations travel upward and outward from sunspot centers. The post Featured Image: Watching Waves in Sunspot Centers appeared first...
Ab-initio QCD Calculations Impact the Inference of the Neutron-Star-Matter Equation of State
Tyler Gorda et al 2023 ApJ 950 107 Researchers have used quantum chromodynamics (QCD) to advance our understanding of the equation of state — the relationship between density, temperature, and ...
The Perturbed Full Two-Body Problem: Application to Post-DART Didymos
Alex J. Meyer et al 2023 Planet. Sci. J. 4 141 The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission was a success, and researchers are now assessing its impact; a follow-up mission in 2027 will gi...
Why Are Jets from Disrupted Stars So Rare?
A new theory explains why tidal disruption events are only rarely accompanied by powerful jets. The post Why Are Jets from Disrupted Stars So Rare? appeared first on AAS Nova .
Tracking Down an Escaped White Dwarf
Researchers search for massive white dwarfs that once resided in the nearest open star cluster to Earth. The post Tracking Down an Escaped White Dwarf appeared first on AAS Nova .
Stellar Rotation and Structure of the α Persei Complex: When Does Gyrochronology Start to Work?
Andrew W. Boyle and Luke G. Bouma 2023 AJ 166 14 Stellar rotation rates are unreliable indicators of stellar age for stars more massive than 0.8 solar mass until they are about 86 million years o...
The Impacts of Neutron Star Structure and Base Heating on Type I X-ray Bursts and Code Comparison
Guoqing Zhen et al 2023 ApJ 950 110 Using models to investigate X-ray bursts from accreting neutron stars, researchers find that different models yield significantly different burst durations and...
Making Sense of a Massive Black Hole in the Early Universe
A red point-source in the early universe is revealed to be a massive active galactic nucleus that contributes a third of its galaxy's total mass. How did it grow so large so quickly? The post M...
FacetClumps: A Facet-Based Molecular Clump Detection Algorithm
Yu Jiang et al 2023 ApJS 267 32 A new method for detecting molecular clumps — dense areas of molecular clouds that are the sites of star formation — performs well on simulated and observation...
How to Model the Strongest Material in the Universe
Modelers attempt to overcome the challenges posed by simulating the ultra-dense, ultra-strong crusts of neutron stars. The post How to Model the Strongest Material in the Universe appeared fir...
Origins of the Evil Eye: M64’s Stellar Halo Reveals the Recent Accretion of an SMC-Mass Satellite
Adam Smercina et al 2023 ApJL 949 L37 The “Evil Eye” Galaxy, Messier 64, has an unusual outer gas disk that rotates in the opposite direction from the galaxy’s stars; new data show that the...
A Chondritic Solar Neighborhood
Isabella L. Trierweiler et al 2023 Planet. Sci. J. 4 136 By studying the compositions of white dwarf stars that have consumed planets that once orbited them, researchers have shown that these pla...
What Shapes the Edge of a Planetary System?
Astrobites reports on whether Jupiter-like exoplanets are responsible for defining the edges of multiple-planet systems. The post What Shapes the Edge of a Planetary System? appeared first on ...
Featured Image: The Cosmic Hand in Polarized Light
A distinctive pulsar wind nebula shaped like an outstretched hand is seen in polarized X-rays for the first time. The post Featured Image: The Cosmic Hand in Polarized Light appeared first on ...
JWST Reveals a Possible z ∼ 11 Galaxy Merger in Triply Lensed MACS0647–JD
Tiger Yu-Yang Hsiao et al 2023 ApJL 949 L34 New JWST observations of a bright galaxy originally discovered with the Hubble Space Telescope reveal it to instead be two galaxies, possibly providing...
Enceladus, Previous Speedster
In order to get its present-day orbit, Enceladus must have felt the need for speed in its recent past. The post Enceladus, Previous Speedster appeared first on AAS Nova .
X-ray Polarimetry of the Accreting Pulsar 1A 0535+262 in the Supercritical State with PolarLight
Xiangyun Long et al 2023 ApJ 950 76 Observations of a pulsar during a giant outburst suggest that a low X-ray polarization fraction could be typical for all accreting pulsars, not just those in a...
JWST NIRSpec Observations of Supernova 1987A — From the Inner Ejecta to the Reverse Shock
J. Larsson et al 2023 ApJL 949 L27 JWST has provided the first observations of SN 1987A in the 1–5 micron range; these observations show that the reverse shock may have started to interact with...
Living in a Galaxy Cluster Slows Down Star Formation
Joining a galaxy cluster can fundamentally change a galaxy's properties. New research looks at how galaxy clusters affect star formation beyond the local universe. The post Living in a Galaxy C...
Inferring the Progenitor Mass–Kinetic Energy Relation of ...ed-Envelope Core-Collapse Supernovae from Nebular Spectroscopy
Qiliang Fang and Keiichi Maeda 2023 ApJ 949 93 Helium-rich and helium-poor supernovae seem to exhibit the same relationship between the energy of their explosions and the mass of the progenitor s...
Comment on the Feasibility of Carbon Burning in Betelgeuse
László Molnár et al 2023 Res. Notes AAS 7 119 The famous red supergiant star Betelgeuse has been under scrutiny in recent years, with ongoing debate as to whether its recent dimming episode is...
Today in (Astro) Shop Class: How to Build a Molecular Cloud
Astrobites reports on how modeling molecular clouds can help us understand how these cosmic nurseries form stars. The post Today in (Astro) Shop Class: How to Build a Molecular Cloud appeared ...
New Insights into Aristarchus Crater with LRO LAMP Far-Ultraviolet Observations
Elizabeth Czajka et al 2023 Planet. Sci. J. 4 137 Combining data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft has allowed researchers to delve into the mineralogy of an ...
Setting Sunspots on a Collision Course
Colliding sunspots can produce solar flares, but not all collisions are accompanied by these outbursts. New simulations explore what it takes to make a solar flare. The post Setting Sunspots on...
FOUND: Missing Matter
Galaxies seem to have less matter than we think they should, but new research suggests it's not missing — just hiding in the form of hot circumgalactic gas. The post FOUND: Missing Matter ap...
Modeling Two First Hydrostatic Core Candidates Barnard 1b-N and S
Hao-Yuan Duan et al 2023 ApJ 947 48 Modeling of submillimeter data of first hydrostatic core candidates suggests that the two sources have completed the first collapse phase and are currently poi...
Nuclear Physics with Gravitational Waves from Neutron Stars Disrupted by Black Holes
Teagan A. Clarke et al 2023 ApJL 949 L6 We may be able to study the interiors of neutron stars by monitoring the gravitational waves generated when they get ripped apart by black holes, though co...
A Cosmic Dust Factory Ramps Up Production
A rare binary system containing hot stars with powerful winds makes dust when the stars approach each other every 13 years. The post A Cosmic Dust Factory Ramps Up Production appeared first on...
On the Origins of Extreme Velocity Stars as Revealed by Large-Scale Galactic Surveys
Qing-Zheng Li et al 2023 AJ 166 12 Dwarf galaxies and globular clusters may be an important source of hypervelocity stars, especially those that are metal poor, low mass, and reside in the Milky ...
Three’s a Crowd for Stars Around Supermassive Black Hole Binaries
Astrobites reports on a way to use an unlucky star to learn about a pair of supermassive black holes. The post Three’s a Crowd for Stars Around Supermassive Black Hole Binaries appeared firs...
Resolving the Emission Regions of the Crab Pulsar’s Giant Pulses. II. Evidence for Relativistic Motion
Rebecca Lin et al 2023 ApJ 945 115 Analysis of nearly 62,000 giant pulses from the Crab Nebula pulsar suggests that the plasma emitting the pulse is moving relativistically; relativistic motion m...
The LSST Cadence Impact on Non-time-critical Eclipsing Binary Science
Andrej Prša et al 2023 ApJS 267 22 Proposed observing cadences for Vera Rubin Observatory’s upcoming Legacy Survey of Space and Time won’t have negative effects on eclipsing binary science, ...
Featured Image: Reading a Galaxy’s History from Its Globular Clusters
Globular clusters help researchers disentangle the formation history of an unusually diffuse galaxy. The post Featured Image: Reading a Galaxy’s History from Its Globular Clusters appeared f...
Metal Before It Was Cool: Super-Enrichment in the Early Universe
Galaxies in the early universe were mostly pure hydrogen. How, then, did one end up with so much metal just a billion years after the Big Bang? The post Metal Before It Was Cool: Super-Enrichme...
Novel Approach to Forecasting Photospheric Emergence of Active Regions
S. S. A. Silva et al 2023 ApJL 948 L24 Around 10 hours before an active region crops up on the Sun’s surface, changes are afoot: multiple small-scale magnetic flux regions emerge and a region o...
Precursors of Supernovae from Mass Eruption: Prospects for Early Warning of Nearby Core-Collapse Supernovae
Daichi Tsuna et al 2023 ApJ 945 104 Simulations suggest that it may be possible to detect pre-explosion outbursts of supernova progenitor stars, even as far as hundreds of days in advance of the ...
Could Interacting Dark Matter Solve a Problem with Our Models of the Universe?
If dark matter and normal matter could interact, it could ease the emerging tension between measurements of how smooth or clumpy the distribution of matter is in our universe. The post Could In...
On Ganymede’s Magnetic Quadrupolar Strength
A. M. Plattner et al 2023 Planet. Sci. J. 4 134 Existing data cannot yet constrain the higher-order components of the magnetic field of Jupiter’s moon Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar sy...
Faint but Not Forgotten. I. First Results from a Search for Astrospheres Around AGB Stars in the Far-Ultraviolet
Raghvendra Sahai and Benjamin Stenger 2023 AJ 165 229 A search for astrospheres has turned up 10 stars with ultraviolet emission coming from a region with the shape expected for a spherically sym...
Looking for a Dragonfly in the Sky
Astrobites reports on a new study of the Dragonfly pulsar wind nebula — a possible source of particles with energies up to a quadrillion electronvolts! The post Looking for a Dragonfly in th...
The Luminosity Function of Tidal Disruption Events from Fal...owered Emission: Implications for the Black Hole Mass Function
Eric R. Coughlin and Matt Nicholl 2023 ApJL 948 L22 If the luminosity of a tidal disruption event — when a star is ripped apart by a black hole — is proportional to the amount of material tha...
Spotlight on Machine Learning in Astrophysics
Machine learning is increasingly popular in many fields of science, including astrophysics. Today's post takes a look at how machine-learning techniques have been used in three research areas. ...
DPS–EPSC 2023: Day 4
Day 4 of the meeting brought an overview of Hubble observations of the giant planets and a debate about the presence of liquid water beneath Mars's south polar deposits. The post DPS–EPSC 202...
The Physical Conditions of Emission-Line Galaxies at Cosmic...Spec Spectroscopy in the SMACS 0723 Early Release Observations
Jonathan R. Trump et al 2023 ApJ 945 35 JWST continues to revolutionize every field it touches, this time giving researchers an entirely new view of the conditions within the interstellar medium ...
HST Low-Resolution Stellar Library
Tathagata Pal et al 2023 ApJS 266 41 A catalog of flux-corrected and de-reddened spectra of 513 stars allows for simultaneous study of H-alpha and the 280-nanometer magnesium line, both of which ...
DPS–EPSC 2023: Day 3
On day 3, presenters tackled machine-learning challenges, icy planets and moons were scrutinized, and solar system images from JWST stole the show. The post DPS–EPSC 2023: Day 3 appeared fir...
JWST/NIRCam Probes Young Star Clusters in the Reionization Era Sunrise Arc
Eros Vanzella et al 2023 ApJ 945 53 Massive young star clusters identified in JWST observations of a highly lensed galaxy might be the precursors to the metal-poor globular clusters seen in the u...
DPS–EPSC 2023: Day 2
Plenary lectures on the second day of the joint AAS Division for Planetary Sciences and Europlanet Science Congress meeting brought insights into small solar system bodies, an asteroid redirectio...
M92 (NGC 6341) Is a Metal-Complex Globular Cluster with an Atypical Primordial Population
Jae-Woo Lee 2023 ApJL 948 L16 Research continues to show that seemingly simple globular clusters are actually composed of multiple populations of stars, as is the case for Messier 92, which conta...
DPS–EPSC 2023: Day 1
We're tuning in to this year's joint meeting of the AAS Division for Planetary Sciences and the Europlanet Science Congress. Check out our summary of plenary sessions and press conferences on Day...
Pulsar and Magnetar Navigation with Fermi/GBM and GECAM
Xi-Hong Luo et al 2023 ApJS 266 16 Pulsars — rapidly spinning cores of exploded stars — are the best timepieces in the universe, and their regular pulses can be used to aid in spacecraft navi...
Could We Detect the Merger of Stellar-Mass and Supermassive Black Holes?
The gravitational waves emitted by stellar-mass black holes merging with one member of a supermassive black hole binary might be a prominent target for upcoming observatories like LISA. The pos...
Shock Synthesis of Organic Molecules by Meteoroids in the Atmosphere of Titan
Erin E. Flowers and Christopher F. Chyba 2023 Planet. Sci. J. 4 127 Laboratory experiments and simulations suggest that meteoroids streaking through the thick, nitrogen- and carbon-rich atmospher...
How Did Arrokoth Get Its Mounds?
The New Horizons spacecraft flew by the Kuiper Belt object Arrokoth more than four years ago. Today, this fascinating, lumpy, bi-lobed object still holds plenty of mysteries. The post How Did A...
Global 3D Radiation Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations of Accr...llar-Mass Black Hole at Sub- and Near-critical Accretion Rates
Jiahui Huang et al 2023 ApJ 945 57 Simulations suggest that the disk of material that forms around a stellar-mass black hole as it accretes gas from its surroundings is supported by magnetic pres...
Getting to Know the Supernova Next Door: SN 2023ixf
SN 2023ixf, which was discovered in May 2023 in the Pinwheel Galaxy, is the nearest extragalactic supernova observed in almost a decade. What did early data tell us about the event? The post Ge...
Early Results from GLASS-JWST. XVI. Discovering a Bluer z ∼ 4–7 Universe through UV Slopes
Themiya Nanayakkara et al 2023 ApJL 947 L26 Many galaxies with redshifts between 4 and 7 observed by JWST appear to be blue and dustless, supporting the picture of dust within galaxies building u...
TOI-5375 B: A Very Low-Mass Star at the Hydrogen-Burning Limit Orbiting an Early M-type Star
Mika Lambert et al 2023 AJ 165 218 What was first categorized as a planet turns out to be a very low-mass star, barely massive enough to fuse hydrogen into helium; further study of the star const...
Spotting Close-In Giant Planets with Spectroscopy
Astrobites reports on a way to find giant planets so close to their host stars that they're usually obscured by the star's glare. The post Spotting Close-In Giant Planets with Spectroscopy app...
Ray-Tracing Simulations and Spectral Models of X-ray Radiation in Dusty Media
Claudio Ricci and Stéphane Paltani 2023 ApJ 945 55 Adding a dash of dust to a ray-tracing model illuminates the ways that X-ray photons interact with dust grains, yielding results applicable to ...
Featured Image: A Rare X-ray Binary in a Starburst Galaxy
Researchers have identified the optical counterpart to an X-ray binary system, giving us clues about the nature of this extreme star system. The post Featured Image: A Rare X-ray Binary in a St...
A Forge Without Iron
If you wanted to know what's in the air of a lava planet, it wouldn't be a good idea to go visit in person. Luckily, astronomers don't have to. The post A Forge Without Iron appeared first on ...
In the Trenches of the Solar–Stellar Connection. VII. Wilson–Bappu 2022
Thomas Ayres 2023 ApJS 266 6 The Wilson–Bappu effect describes the correlation between a star’s luminosity and the strength of a particular calcium emission line arising from its chromosphere...
First ALMA Maps of Cosmic-Ray Ionization Rate in High-Mass Star-Forming Regions
Giovanni Sabatini et al 2023 ApJL 947 L18 Cosmic rays — high-energy charged particles accelerated by distant cosmic engines — play an important role in determining the composition and ioniza...
A Fast Radio Burst Reveals Foreground Galaxy Clusters
Researchers take a wide view of an unusual repeating fast radio burst to decode the burst's dispersed signal. The post A Fast Radio Burst Reveals Foreground Galaxy Clusters appeared first on A...
X-ray Studies of the Pulsar PSR J1420–6048 and Its TeV Pulsar Wind Nebula in the Kookaburra Region
Jaegeun Park et al 2023 ApJ 945 33 X-ray data illuminate the particle properties of a pulsar wind nebula; these observations suggest that even higher-energy particles may be present in the source...
Signs of (Pre-)Life: Can JWST Detect Conditions for the Formation of Earth-Like Life on Distant Planets?
Astrobites reports on the prospect of using JWST to detect prebiosignatures: the molecules that indicate not life itself, but the possibility that life might someday form. The post Signs of (Pr...
Giant Planet Lightning in Nonideal Gases
Yury S. Aglyamov et al 2023 Planet. Sci. J. 4 111 Adaptation of an existing model allows for investigating lightning on all the gas and ice giants in our solar system; lightning has been either d...
Investigating a Star-Formation Shutdown in the Early Universe
Why did a small galaxy stop forming stars less than 700 million years after the Big Bang? Cosmological simulations give some clues about why star formation stalled. The post Investigating a Sta...
Searching for Compact Object Candidates from LAMOST Time-Domain Survey of Four K2 Plates
Senyu Qi et al 2023 AJ 165 187 A study of single-lined spectroscopic binaries, in which only one set of spectral lines is observed to move back and forth over the course of an orbit, turns up a h...
A New Class of Fast Transients Has Emerged in an Unlikely Place
Quiescent elliptical galaxies might harbor a new class of rare transients called luminous fast coolers, the physical origins of which remain unknown. The post A New Class of Fast Transients Has...
Flares, Jets, and Quasiperiodic Outbursts from Neutron Star Merger Remnants
Elias R. Most and Eliot Quataert 2023 ApJL 947 L15 In the brief moments before collapse, hypermassive neutron stars may be capable of emitting flares and collimated jets, which could power the pr...
Inferencing Progenitor and Explosion Properties of Evolving...ollapse Supernovae from Zwicky Transient Facility Light Curves
Bhagya M. Subrayan et al 2023 ApJ 945 46 Researchers have determined which early-time supernova properties can be reliably determined from late-time light curve data, providing a way to guide our...
First Detection of a Glycine Isomer in the Interstellar Medium
Researchers have detected glycolamide, a chemical cousin to the simplest amino acid necessary for life on Earth, in the interstellar medium for the first time. The post First Detection of a Gly...
An Extensive Catalog of Early Type Dwarf Galaxies in the Local Universe: Morphology and Environment
Sanjaya Paudel et al 2023 ApJS 265 57 A new catalog of 5,405 nearby early-type dwarf galaxies presents the characteristics of these objects, such as whether they contain distinct galactic nuclei ...
Type II Solar Radio Bursts and You
Astrobites reports on an interesting case of a solar radio burst occurring under unusual conditions. The post Type II Solar Radio Bursts and You appeared first on AAS Nova .
A Unified Model for Bipolar Outflows from Young Stars: Kine..., Winds, and Their Magnetic Interplay with the Ambient Toroids
Hsien Shang et al 2023 ApJ 944 230 Bubbles resulting from outflowing material colliding with surrounding material appear to be ubiquitous in young stars, and researchers have developed a framewor...
MINDS. The Detection of 13CO2 with JWST-MIRI Indicates Abundant CO2 in a Protoplanetary Disk
Sierra L. Grant et al 2023 ApJL 947 L6 Precise spectroscopy with JWST has enabled the detection of faint spectral lines from various molecules in the protoplanetary disk GW Lupii, facilitating th...
Featured Image: Minor Planet Vesta Gets a New Map
Researchers have mapped the surface of one of the largest objects in the asteroid belt, using a technique that marries different data types into one visualization. The post Featured Image: Mino...
Lonely Neutrinos: IceCube’s First Population Limits
By the time you finish this sentence, trillions of neutrinos will have passed harmlessly through your body. But, where are all of them coming from? Astronomers still aren't sure, but they're star...
Investigating the Stability and Distribution of Surface Ice in Mercury’s Northernmost Craters
Allison K. Glantzberg et al 2023 Planet. Sci. J. 4 107 Comparison of modeling and observations shows that crater interiors suggested by models to be permanently shadowed, suggestive of the presen...
JWST’s PEARLS: Dust Attenuation and Gravitational Lensing in the Backlit-Galaxy System VV 191
William C. Keel et al 2023 AJ 165 166 A chance alignment of a background elliptical galaxy and a foreground face-on spiral galaxy gives researchers a unique chance to study the galaxy’s dust pr...
The Complex X-ray Obscuration Environment in the Radio Loud Type 2 Quasar 3C 223
Stephanie M. LaMassa et al 2023 ApJ 944 152 New research has dredged up three examples of radio-loud, Compton-thick active galactic nuclei and suggests that we may need to revisit how we classify...
Sandy, Briny Water on Mars Has a Better Chance of Remaining Liquid
Lab experiments show that mixing Martian surface material into briny liquid helps water remain a liquid under colder, drier conditions. The post Sandy, Briny Water on Mars Has a Better Chance o...
Twinkle, Twinkle, Trail of Stars, How I Wonder What You Are
Astrobites reports on a mysterious stellar streak — could it be a wake left behind by a rogue black hole, or is it something else entirely? The post Twinkle, Twinkle, Trail of Stars, How I Wo...
Updated Void Catalogs of the SDSS DR7 Main Sample
Kelly A. Douglass et al 2023 ApJS 265 7 Researchers have compiled new catalogs of cosmic voids — enormous regions of space that contain relatively few galaxies compared to extended filaments co...
Fast Radio Burst Roundup
Fast radio bursts have puzzled astronomers for more than 15 years now, but they may be getting close to an explanation for these powerful flashes. The post Fast Radio Burst Roundup appeared fi...
On the Origin of Dust Structures in Protoplanetary Disks: Constraints from the Rossby Wave Instability
Eonho Chang et al 2023 ApJL 946 L1 Gas pressure maxima could cause dust rings in protoplanetary disks, but fluid instabilities should quickly disrupt these maxima; new work uses this fact to cons...
The Influence of β-decay Rates on r-process Observables
Kelsey A. Lund et al 2023 ApJ 944 144 Calculations of the luminosity of kilonovae appear to be highly sensitive to the rates at which certain nuclear species split apart into more stable species ...
First Observation of Chromospheric Waves in a Sunspot by DKIST/ViSP: The Anatomy of an Umbral Flash
Ryan J. French et al 2023 ApJL 945 L27 Early observations from the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope enabled the study of an umbral flash: a sudden brightening of the solar chromosphere, possibly ...
JWST Validates a New Tool for Studying Quasars
Comparing quasar observations made at key optical and infrared wavelengths shines a light on the best way to study quasar outflows with JWST. The post JWST Validates a New Tool for Studying Qua...
https://aasnova.org/2023/08/23/jwst-quasars/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=jwst-quasars
A Shallow-Water Model Exploration of Atmospheric Circulatio...Sub-Neptunes: Effects of Radiative Forcing and Rotation Period
Ekaterina Landgren et al 2023 Planet. Sci. J. 4 106 Using models, researchers have explored how the radiation environment and rotation rate affect the atmospheric dynamics of sub-Neptunes, a comm...
Fish(er)ing for Planet Nine
Astrobites reports on the possibility of finding Planet Nine (or Planet X) by searching for the subtle tugs that this planet would exert on spacecraft and asteroids in the solar system. The pos...
Featured Image: A New Einstein Cross
A rare kind of strongly lensed galaxy is now confirmed spectroscopically, adding to the short list of known Einstein Crosses. The post Featured Image: A New Einstein Cross appeared first on AA...
Molecular Outflows in z>6 Unobscured QSO Hosts Driven by Star Formation
Kirsty M. Butler et al 2023 ApJ 944 134 New radio observations suggest that star formation drives molecular outflows from high-redshift, quasar-hosting galaxies with little to no contribution fro...
Intensity Interferometry Observations of the Hα Envelope of γCas with MéO and a Portable Telescope
Nolan Matthews et al 2023 AJ 165 117 A test of intensity interferometry — correlating the changes in a star’s intensity as seen by multiple telescopes — shows how the system can be used on ...
Solar Storm Versus Mars
What happens to Mars when it's struck by a coronal mass ejection? Two spacecraft on opposite sides of the planet gave us a unique perspective on the event. The post Solar Storm Versus Mars app...
Metal-Enriched Neutral Gas Reservoir around a Strongly Lensed Low-Mass Galaxy at z = 4 Identified by JWST/NIRISS and VLT/MUSE
Xiaojing Lin et al 2023 ApJL 944 L59 Observations suggest that metals (elements heavier than helium) are amassed efficiently in low-mass galaxies in the early universe, leading to a low escape fr...
What We Learn by Not Detecting Supernovae
The non-detection of six supernovae allowed researchers to place limits on the properties of the exploded stars' mass-donating companions. The post What We Learn by Not Detecting Supernovae ap...
Relativistic Correction to the r-mode Frequency in Light of Multimessenger Constraints
Suprovo Ghosh et al 2023 ApJ 944 53 New modeling of oscillations in rotating neutron stars suggests a higher frequency range than previous estimates; these oscillations may produce gravitational ...
JWST/MIRI Spectroscopy of the Disk of the Young Eruptive Star EX Lup in Quiescence
Ágnes Kóspál et al 2023 ApJL 945 L7 Emission lines in the spectrum of a pre-main-sequence star suggest that crystalline forsterite grains formed in a 2008 outburst have migrated outward into t...
Things That Go Bump in the Outer Solar System
Astrobites reports on the modeling of small bodies in the outer solar system and how this finicky, incremental process can have far-ranging impacts. The post Things That Go Bump in the Outer So...
A New Way to Constrain Dark Energy
By modeling the motions of the Milky Way and our galactic neighbor, researchers have placed a constraint on the cosmological constant, and by extension, dark energy. The post A New Way to Const...
Characterization of Low-Mass Companions to Kepler Objects of Interest Observed with APOGEE-N
Caleb I. Cañas et al 2023 ApJS 265 50 Twenty-eight companions to stars observed with the Kepler spacecraft were studied in detail, allowing for the inflated radii of these brown dwarfs and M dwa...
Gas Sloshing and Cold Fronts in Pre-merging Galaxy Cluster A98
Arnab Sarkar et al 2023 ApJ 944 132 Deep observations of the galaxy cluster Abell 98 reveal a variety of structures including a gas sloshing spiral, an X-ray tail, and cold front edges; some of t...
Spotting an Exoplanet in the Mid-Infrared
JWST, now a 20-month-old space toddler, is still serving up astronomical "firsts" nearly two years since its launch. Recently, it snapped the first-ever direct picture of an exoplanet taken in wa...
XMM-Newton Detection of X-Ray Emission from the Metal-Polluted White Dwarf G 29-38
S. Estrada-Dorado et al 2023 ApJL 944 L46 New observations suggesting the accretion of planetary debris onto a white dwarf allow for a reassessment of previous data that were complicated by the p...
The Origin of the Nuclear Star-forming Ring in NGC 3182
Mina Pak et al 2023 AJ 165 109 Radiation pressure from an active galactic nucleus might be the cause for the recent burst of star formation in the central ring of the galaxy NGC 3182, which hosts...
How We Lost a Gravitational Wave Source and Gained a Supernova
The hunt for the source of a gravitational wave signal came up short, but it revealed a supernova with a curious double-peaked light curve. The post How We Lost a Gravitational Wave Source and ...
Intrastellar (2014)?
Astrobites reports on the origins of a purported interstellar meteorite that has made a big splash in the news (and the Pacific Ocean). The post Intrastellar (2014)? appeared first on AAS Nova...
Constraints on Europa’s Water Group Torus from HST/COS Observations
Lorenz Roth et al 2023 Planet. Sci. J. 4 87 Detection of the neutral gas torus around Jupiter’s moon Europa remains difficult, with Hubble Space Telescope observations from 2020 to 2021 finding...
The Modulation of Anomalous and Galactic Cosmic-Ray Oxygen over Successive Solar Cycle Minima
R. D. Strauss et al 2023 ApJ 944 114 Lower turbulence might cause anomalous cosmic rays to be accelerated less efficiently at the solar wind termination shock, providing a potential explanation f...
Featured Image: The Many Shapes of Radio Jets
How do radio jets end up in X, S, or Z shapes? Simulations explore how precession might play a role. The post Featured Image: The Many Shapes of Radio Jets appeared first on AAS Nova .
AAS Publishing News: An Interview with Data Editor Katie Merrell
Learn about engineer-turned-astronomer Katie Merrell's journey to becoming a data editor for the AAS journals, and read up on how the data editors help our authors organize and present their data...
Discovery of an Isolated Dark Dwarf Galaxy in the Nearby Universe
Jin-Long Xu et al 2023 ApJL 944 L40 A neutral hydrogen survey with the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope turned up an isolated spinning cloud of gas with no optical counterpart and ...
The Roasting Marshmallows Program with IGRINS on Gemini South I: Composition and Climate of the Ultrahot Jupiter WASP-18 b
Matteo Brogi et al 2023 AJ 165 91 Water vapor, carbon monoxide, and hydroxide molecules are all apparent in spectra of the ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-18b, and Doppler shifts in the planet’s spectru...
Studying Star Formation History: Smooth or Bursty?
Researchers have analyzed images and spectra of hundreds of galaxies to determine if star formation proceeds smoothly or in fits and starts. The post Studying Star Formation History: Smooth or ...
Gamma-Ray Emission from Galaxies Hosting Molecular Outflows
Alex McDaniel et al 2023 ApJ 943 168 Researchers detect gamma rays from galaxies with molecular outflows — a way that gas is removed from galaxies, potentially suppressing star formation — an...
Probing the Milky Way Stellar and Brown Dwarf Initial Mass Function with Modern Microlensing Observations
Gilles Chabrier and Romain Lenoble 2023 ApJL 944 L33 The central bulge of our galaxy may have the same stellar and brown dwarf initial mass function as the galactic disk, suggesting that brown dw...
Juggling Black Holes in Star Clusters
Astrobites reports on a potential new formation channel for intermediate-mass black holes, which are an important stepping stone on the way to creating supermassive black holes. The post Juggli...
The Colorado Ultraviolet Transit Experiment Mission Overview
Kevin France et al 2023 AJ 165 63 A recent cubesat mission aims to detect the extended atmospheres of nearby exoplanets undergoing atmospheric escape — a process thought to play a fundamental r...
From the Center to the Surface: Do Changing Stellar Interiors Affect Stellar Activity?
New research dives into tiny gaps and dips on the H–R diagram to study the connection between stellar interiors and stellar activity. The post From the Center to the Surface: Do Changing Stel...
Polarization Properties of the Weakly Magnetized Neutron Star X-Ray Binary GS 1826–238 in the High Soft State
Fiamma Capitanio et al 2023 ApJ 943 129 The first observations by the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer of a weakly magnetized neutron star allowed researchers to place an upper limit on the obj...
All Dust, No Ice: Comet 46P/Wirtanen
“Ice, Ice, Maybe?” Probably not in the case of comet 46P/Wirtanen. The post All Dust, No Ice: Comet 46P/Wirtanen appeared first on AAS Nova .
Simulation of Space Weathering on Asteroid Spectra through Hydrogen Ion Irradiation of Meteorites
Lakshika Palamakumbure et al 2023 Planet. Sci. J. 4 72 A laboratory investigation of space weathering — chemical and physical processes that change the spectral properties of asteroids — sugg...
Making Sense of the Many Metals in HD 222925’s Spectrum
We've measured more elements in HD 222925's spectrum than we have for any other star except for the Sun. Could this star provide a new benchmark for our understanding of how heavy metals are crea...
Powerful Radio Sources in the Southern Sky. I. Optical Identifications
F. Massaro et al 2023 ApJS 265 32 Researchers have compiled a new catalog of 264 southern radio sources, a large portion of which have known optical and mid-infrared counterparts as well as redsh...
Pizza Aurorae: Northern (and/or Southern) Lights on Io
Astrobites reports on how challenging ground-based observations can bring the aurorae of Jupiter's moon Io into view. The post Pizza Aurorae: Northern (and/or Southern) Lights on Io appeared f...
Magnetic Energy Dissipation and γ-Ray Emission in Energetic Pulsars
Hayk Hakobyan et al 2023 ApJ 943 105 Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations of a pulsar magnetosphere illuminate the pathways through which energy is dissipated as a function of the pulsa...
Featured Image: Warped, Flared, and Ultra-thin
An extremely flat galaxy, seen edge on, has a wealth of subtle imperfections that hold the clues to the galaxy's history. The post Featured Image: Warped, Flared, and Ultra-thin appeared first...
Speckle Space–Time Covariance in High-Contrast Imaging
Briley Lewis et al 2023 AJ 165 59 A new technique that can be used as a post-processing step in the analysis of astronomical images improves contrast by at least 10–20%, and further development...
Astrobiology eXploration at Enceladus: Looking for Life on an Icy Moon
A recent article describes a spacecraft mission that aims to determine if Saturn's tiny, frosty moon Enceladus hosts life in its global subsurface ocean. The post Astrobiology eXploration at En...
Two Lensed Star Candidates at z ≃ 4.8 behind the Galaxy Cluster MACS J0647.7+7015
Ashish Kumar Meena et al 2023 ApJL 944 L6 Using JWST observations of a galaxy cluster, researchers may have glimpsed the second and third most distant individual stars ever seen, after the redshi...
Laboratory Studies of Brine Growth Kinetics Relevant to Deliquescence on Mars
Raina V. Gough et al 2023 Planet. Sci. J. 4 46 Laboratory studies show that salt deliquescence — the process of something becoming a liquid — is likely slow on Mars, which suggests that only ...
Wanted: Surviving Companions of Stripped-Envelope Supernovae
Some supernovae may arise from stars that have lost their atmospheres to fierce winds or binary companions. How might we detect these binary companions, should they exist? The post Wanted: Surv...
Shock Breakout from Stellar Envelopes: The Relativistic Limit
Tamar Faran and Re’em Sari 2023 ApJ 943 97 New calculations predict the luminosity and spectrum that result from a shock wave crossing the edge of a star, as might occur during a supernova expl...
SDSS J134441.83+204408.3: A Highly Asynchronous Short-Period Magnetic Cataclysmic Variable with a 56 MG Field Strength
Colin Littlefield et al 2023 ApJL 943 L24 Researchers have discovered a highly magnetized white dwarf that, despite theoretical predictions otherwise, has not synchronized its rotational frequenc...
A Galactic Prison Break: Tracing Lyman-Alpha Escape at High Redshift
Astrobites reports on how the properties of galaxies in the early universe affect the Lyman-alpha light that we observe. The post A Galactic Prison Break: Tracing Lyman-Alpha Escape at High Red...
Searching for Barium Stars from the LAMOST Spectra Using the Machine-Learning Method: I
Fengyue Guo et al 2023 AJ 165 40 Chemically peculiar barium stars, first discovered in the 1950s, show enhanced abundances of s-process (slow neutron capture) elements, which might result from po...
Is There More to Life than Oxygen?
Astrobites reports on the molecules that might indicate life beyond Earth — and why oxygen might not be the ideal biosignature. The post Is There More to Life than Oxygen? appeared first on ...
When White Dwarf Is on the Menu
Intermediate mass black holes, the younger siblings of supermassive anchors of galaxies, might sometimes play with their food. The post When White Dwarf Is on the Menu appeared first on AAS No...
Deep X-Ray and Radio Observations of the First Outburst of the Young Magnetar Swift J1818.0−1607
A. Y. Ibrahim et al 2023 ApJ 943 20 The X-ray and radio emission characteristics of a young magnetar — a highly magnetized neutron star — can tell us about the object’s neighborhood, includ...
The Nature of Blue Stars with Mid-infrared Excesses in the Large Magellanic Cloud
Ryoko Ishioka et al 2023 ApJS 265 18 A survey of 92 unclassified objects turned up 42 young stellar objects and 50 protoplanetary nebulae, evolved stars, and dust-shrouded stars, plus a few objec...
Evidence for Nitrogen-bearing Species on Umbriel: Sourced from a Subsurface Ocean, Undifferentiated Crust, or Impactors?
Richard J. Cartwright et al 2023 Planet. Sci. J. 4 42 Spectra of Umbriel show features at infrared wavelengths that may be due to a variety of intriguing compounds, but the proposed compounds pro...
A Midsummer Solar Physics Update
It's summertime — beat the heat by checking out five recent research articles that tackle key issues in solar physics. The post A Midsummer Solar Physics Update appeared first on AAS Nova .
Indirect Evidence for Dark Matter Density Spikes around Stellar-mass Black Holes
Man Ho Chan and Chak Man Lee 2023 ApJL 943 L11 Two instances of stars falling toward stellar-mass black holes faster than expected may provide evidence of dark matter density spikes in the vicini...
I SPI with My Little Eye… a Planetary Magnetic Field?
Astrobites reports on a cool star's ultraviolet variability and explores what this means for the search for planetary magnetic fields. The post I SPI with My Little Eye… a Planetary Magnetic ...
Discovery of GeV Gamma-Ray Emission from Pulsar Wind Nebula Kes 75 and PSR J1846–0258
Samayra M. Straal et al 2023 ApJ 942 103 A glowing region of gas powered by a rapidly spinning neutron star left over after a supernova might have a second power source: a massive, evolved star o...
Featured Image: The Milky Way as Seen in Gravitational Waves
A recent research article imagines what the Milky Way would look like if we could observe low-frequency gravitational waves from ultra-compact binary systems. The post Featured Image: The Milky...
Highly Energetic Electrons Accelerated in Strong Solar Flares as a Preferred Driver of Sunquakes
H. Wu et al 2023 ApJL 943 L6 Observations suggest that electrons with energies above 300 keV, accelerated during a solar flare, appear to be the sought-after trigger for solar shakeups called sun...
JWST Inspects a Quasar’s Neighborhood and Reveals a Strand of the Cosmic Web
JWST opens a new window onto the surroundings of quasars — extremely luminous galactic centers powered by accreting supermassive black holes — in the early universe. The post JWST Inspects ...
Deep Orbital Search for Additional Planets in the HR 8799 System
William Thompson et al 2023 AJ 165 29 The star HR 8799 is known to host four planets, but researchers think there might be more — a recent search turned up a candidate planet interior to the kn...
The Optical Aurorae of Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto
Katherine de Kleer et al 2023 Planet. Sci. J. 4 37 Using data of auroral emission at multiple different wavelengths — some auroral wavelengths were detected at a planet beyond Earth for the fir...
Could Axions Help Fast Radio Bursts Escape a Magnetar’s Grasp?
Theoretical particles called axions might provide a helpful disguise for fast radio bursts, helping them escape the confines of a magnetar's magnetosphere. The post Could Axions Help Fast Radio...
Astrophysical Implications on Hyperon Couplings and Hyperon Star Properties with Relativistic Equations of States
Xiangdong Sun et al 2023 ApJ 942 55 Simulations suggest that if stars composed of hyperons — subatomic particles heavier than protons or neutrons that likely exist in the cores of neutron stars...
Overmassive Black Holes in Dwarf Galaxies Out to z ∼ 0.9 in the VIPERS Survey
Mar Mezcua et al 2023 ApJL 943 L5 Supermassive black holes in a sample of dwarf galaxies appear to be more massive than expected; if these dwarf galaxies grow to be massive galaxies, that means m...
First Compelling Evidence for the Gravitational Wave Background
For the first time, researchers using pulsar timing arrays have found evidence for the long-sought-after gravitational wave background. This discovery opens a new window onto supermassive black h...
Comprehensive Study of Mass Ejection and Nucleosynthesis in...Neutron Star Mergers Leaving Short-Lived Massive Neutron Stars
Sho Fujibayashi et al 2023 ApJ 942 39 The greater the difference in the masses of merging neutron stars, the more neutrons are expelled in the collision, resulting in the creation of heavier elem...
Baby Brown Dwarf Might be Growing: JWST Observations of TWA 27B
Recently, a young brown dwarf got the full JWST treatment. Analysis of the data both confirms known trends and hints at new discoveries. The post Baby Brown Dwarf Might be Growing: JWST Observa...
The Cassiopeia Filament: A Blown Spur of the Local Arm
Xuepeng Chen et al 2023 AJ 165 16 A newly discovered gaseous filament contains multiple intriguing structures, such as a 32-parsec-wide bubble that might be the result of a massive star’s winds...
Cool, Relaxed, but Way Out of Its Lane: The Most Distant Cooling-Flow Galaxy Cluster Yet Observed
Astrobites reports on a galaxy cluster that may have taken only 5 billion years to "relax," doing so faster than previously thought possible. The post Cool, Relaxed, but Way Out of Its Lane: Th...
New Observations Suggest a Way for Stars and Planets to Get Out of Alignment
Why do some exoplanets orbit in the same direction their host stars spin, while others are wildly out of alignment? New research suggests that the number of planets in the system makes all the di...
Searching for Molecular Jets from High-Mass Protostars
Tatiana M. Rodríguez et al 2023 ApJS 264 30 Researchers have detected silicon monoxide, which often indicates the presence of shocked gas, in the surroundings of what are suspected to be high-ma...
A Day at the Very Large Array
AAS Nova Editor Kerry Hensley and AAS Media Fellow Ben Cassese got the chance to tour the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Very Large Array. The post A Day at the Very Large Array appear...
Possible Evidence for Lorentz Invariance Violation in Gamma-Ray Burst 221009A
Justin D. Finke and Soebur Razzaque 2023 ApJL 942 L21 Observations of extremely high-energy photons released in a recent gamma-ray burst might provide evidence for a violation of key tenet of spe...
Comprehensive Study of Mass Ejection and Nucleosynthesis in...Neutron Star Mergers Leaving Short-lived Massive Neutron Stars
Sho Fujibayashi et al 2023 ApJ 942 39 General relativistic hydrodynamics simulations show that the more asymmetric the merger of two neutron stars, the heavier the r-process elements that are syn...
Leto Mission Concept for Green Reconnaissance of the Marius Hills Lunar Pit
Donald M. Hooper et al 2023 Planet. Sci. J. 4 26 Researchers describe a “green” reconnaissance mission to a lava tube on the Moon; green missions take into account potential contamination to ...
Questing After Quasars and Their Role in Reionization
Did the most luminous objects in the universe play a large role during the epoch of reionization, or did they have a bit part? The post Questing After Quasars and Their Role in Reionization ap...
FUMES. III. Ultraviolet and Optical Variability of M-dwarf Chromospheres
Girish M. Duvvuri et al 2023 AJ 165 12 For low-mass stars, fast rotation is correlated with large-amplitude variability at optical wavelengths, which could be the result of heating by Alfvén wav...
Could Spinning Soup Start Starquakes and Explain a Magnetar Mystery?
Astrobites reports on the interiors of neutron stars, where neutrons being crushed into a quark soup center might be the sought-after cause of fast radio bursts. The post Could Spinning Soup St...
Triage with Random Forests: Machine Learning for Transient Classification
Deciding which flashes in the night deserve follow-up observations is a difficult and time-critical task. Thankfully, now machine learning algorithms can help make the choice. The post Triage w...
JWST’s PEARLS: Bright 1.5–2.0 μm Dropouts in the Spitzer/IRAC Dark Field
Haojing Yan et al 2023 ApJL 942 L8 Several candidate high-redshift galaxies in JWST data are unknown in nature, as they cannot be explained by usual contaminants but are more numerous and more lu...
X-Ray Spectral Analysis of the Jet Termination Shock in Pictor A on Subarcsecond Scales with Chandra
R. Thimmappa et al 2022 ApJ 941 204 Researchers suggest that the X-ray emission from the radio lobes of Pictor A is due to synchrotron radiation from high-energy (10–100 tera-electronvolts) ele...
A Detailed Look at Star-Forming Spirals with PHANGS-JWST
The latest installment in a survey of nearby spiral galaxies shines a light on star formation, stellar feedback, and more. The post A Detailed Look at Star-Forming Spirals with PHANGS-JWST app...
12CO (3–2) High-Resolution Survey (COHRS) of the Galactic Plane: Complete Data Release
Geumsook Park et al 2023 ApJS 264 16 The full data release of a survey of the inner galactic plane will be useful for astronomers studying the properties of individual molecular clouds as well as...
The Fires Within: Investigating the Atmospheres of Inflated Hot Jupiters
Astrobites reports on simulations of the atmospheres of inflated hot Jupiters that are highly irradiated by their host stars. The post The Fires Within: Investigating the Atmospheres of Inflate...
The Identification of a Dusty Multiarm Spiral Galaxy at z = 3.06 with JWST and ALMA
Yunjing Wu et al 2023 ApJL 942 L1 Using JWST observations, researchers have identified the most distant galaxy showing distinct spiral structure ever, at a time when the universe was only about 2...
Emission Line Galaxies in the SHARDS Hubble Frontier Fields...ions of Lensed Emission Line Galaxies at Redshifts 2 < z < 3.5
Alex Griffiths et al 2022 ApJ 941 181 Hubble observations suggest that low-mass, line-emitting galaxies might not be a main source of photons during the epoch of reionization, during which the ab...
Featured Image: Motion in the Cygnus Loop Supernova Remnant
Hubble Space Telescope observations spanning 22 years reveal movement in a supernova shock wave. The post Featured Image: Motion in the Cygnus Loop Supernova Remnant appeared first on AAS Nova...
NGC 6153: Reality is Complicated
Michael G. Richer et al 2022 AJ 164 243 Observations with the Very Large Telescope reveal the plasma within a planetary nebula to be complex, containing two components with different temperatures...
AAS 242: Day 4
The final day of AAS 242 brought us one last exceptional plenary on the role that sample return missions play in our exploration of the solar system. The post AAS 242: Day 4 appeared first on ...
Thermal Creep on Mars: Visualizing a Soil Layer under Tension
Tetyana Bila et al 2023 Planet. Sci. J. 4 16 A laboratory study of nanometer-sized dust grains in simulated Martian soil helps scientists explore thermal creep, a process in which gases flow out ...
AAS 242: Day 3
Day 3 of AAS 242 brought perspectives on planetary nebulae, reflections on two-eyed seeing, and everything you need to know to safely view the two solar eclipses that will soon cross North Americ...
Turbulent Reacceleration of Streaming Cosmic Rays
Chad Bustard and S. Peng Oh 2022 ApJ 941 65 Recent research delves into the method by which turbulence transfers energy to cosmic rays: high-energy charged particles accelerated by supernovae and...
AAS 242: Day 2
Day 2 at AAS 242! We've got info about solar flares, the fastest nova we know of, and a star-birthing nebula named for Scotland's favorite cryptid. The post AAS 242: Day 2 appeared first on AA...
AAS 242: Day 1
Day 1 of AAS 242 brought us tornadoes on the Sun, a fantastic fish-hook galaxy, and plenty of news from JWST. The post AAS 242: Day 1 appeared first on AAS Nova .
Dust Hot Spots at 10 au Scales around the Class 0 Binary IRAS 16293–2422 A: A Departure from the Passive Irradiation Model
María José Maureira et al 2022 ApJL 941 L23 Shock heating likely explains the observed dust temperature in the vicinity of a triple class 0 protostellar system; the class 0 stage of stellar evo...
AAS 242: Welcome!
This week we’ll be bringing you updates from the 242nd AAS meeting, happening in Albuquerque, NM, and online. The post AAS 242: Welcome! appeared first on AAS Nova .
Unveiling Hidden Stellar Aggregates in the Milky Way: 1656 New Star Clusters Found in Gaia EDR3
Zhihong He et al 2023 ApJS 264 8 Using machine learning, a research team discovered thousands of new star clusters in the Milky Way’s disk, boosting the number of star clusters cataloged from G...
AAS Publishing at AAS 242 in Albuquerque (and Online!)
The AAS publishing team is excited to engage with the community at the upcoming AAS meeting. Check out what they'll be up to at the meeting! The post AAS Publishing at AAS 242 in Albuquerque (a...
Quasiperiodic Erupters: A Stellar Mass-Transfer Model for the Radiation
Julian H. Krolik and Itai Linial 2022 ApJ 941 24 Simulations suggest that semi-periodic X-ray flares could be due to main-sequence stars on eccentric orbits around black holes; the star loses mas...
Powerful Yet Lonely: Is 3C 297 a High-Redshift Fossil Group?
Valentina Missaglia et al 2023 ApJS 264 6 Despite having the tell-tale signs of a galaxy cluster, like X-ray-emitting gas, 3C 297 appears to contain just a single galaxy, which might mean that th...
An X-Ray Proper-motion Study of the Large Magellanic Cloud Supernova Remnant 0509-67.5
Benson T. Guest et al 2022 AJ 164 231 X-ray observations of an extragalactic supernova remnant show that the remnant is expanding at a blistering 6,120 kilometers per second, which suggests that ...
Could Supermassive Stars Explain How This Galaxy Got Its Nitrogen?
Stars more than a hundred times more massive than the Sun might be the source of nitrogen in one of the most distant known galaxies. The post Could Supermassive Stars Explain How This Galaxy Go...
Revisiting the Space Weather Environment of Proxima Centauri b
Cecilia Garraffo et al 2022 ApJL 941 L8 Using a newly available map of Proxima Centauri’s surface magnetic field, researchers recalculate the space weather conditions at the location of the hab...
No Peaks without Valleys: The Stable Mass Transfer Channel ...ave Sources in Light of the Neutron Star–Black Hole Mass Gap
L. A. C. van Son et al 2022 ApJ 940 184 The apparent neutron star–black hole mass gap seen in gravitational wave observations can be explained by selection effects resulting from the properties...
A Solar System–Sized Experiment: New Proposal for Precision Cosmology and More
To measure vast distances with tiny uncertainties, astronomers need to think outside the box. A new study proposes an ambitious mission that could revolutionize our understanding of cosmology, da...
An Ancient Martian Dynamo Driven by Hemispheric Heating: Effect of Thermal Boundary Conditions
Chi Yan et al 2023 Planet. Sci. J. 4 11 Researchers use models to probe Mars’s ancient magnetic fields; as more and more heat is introduced beneath the planet’s crust, the magnetic dynamo can...
Diversity of Dust Properties in External Galaxies Confirmed by Polarization Signals from Type II Supernovae
Takashi Nagao et al 2022 ApJL 941 L4 Dust properties throughout the universe appear not to be universal; a study of dust in two galaxies 50–70 million light-years away shows that Milky Way–li...
Red Galaxies at Night, Astronomers Delight: A Look at the “Hubble-Dark” Universe
JWST has revealed an intriguing new group of galaxies with flat, extended, red disks that might be the precursors to today's massive galaxies. The post Red Galaxies at Night, Astronomers Deligh...
A Direct Measurement of Galaxy Major and Minor Merger Rates...ion Histories at Z < 3 Using Galaxy Pairs in the REFINE Survey
Christopher J. Conselice et al 2022 ApJ 940 168 Major galaxy mergers appear to add more stellar mass to galaxies between a redshift of 0 and a redshift of 3 than minor mergers do, and both types ...
Time-Variable Jet Ejections from RW Aur A, RY Tau, and DG Tau
Michihiro Takami et al 2023 ApJS 264 1 Researchers present new observations of jets from three young, active stars, all of which show signs of moving knots and variability over timescales of seve...
A Potential New Character in the Saga of HD 163296
Astrobites reports on an extra protoplanet that might be lurking in the dust around a nearby star. The post A Potential New Character in the Saga of HD 163296 appeared first on AAS Nova .
The Prototypical Blazar BL Lacertae Shows New Behavior
In 2020, astronomers spotted curious color changes and other new behavior from the first known blazar. The post The Prototypical Blazar BL Lacertae Shows New Behavior appeared first on AAS Nov...
Observational Signatures of Frame Dragging in Strong Gravity
Angelo Ricarte et al 2022 ApJL 941 L12 The next-generation Event Horizon Telescope should be capable of detecting frame dragging, in which objects near a black hole’s event horizon must rotate ...
Strongly Depleted Methanol and Hypervolatiles in Comet C/2021 A1 (Leonard): Signatures of Interstellar Chemistry?
Sara Faggi et al 2023 Planet. Sci. J. 4 8 Patterns of molecular abundances could be a sign of interstellar medium chemistry in comet Leonard, which also shows a complex pattern of outgassing and ...
Spectral Evolution of Ultraluminous X-Ray Pulsar NGC 300 ULX-1
Mason Ng et al 2022 ApJ 940 138 A year’s monitoring of an ultraluminous pulsar suggests that the emission from the object appears to change and soften due to masking by a surrounding accretion ...
Forming the Sun on a Molecular Cloud Filament
Can a model in which the solar system forms in a dense, filamentary gas cloud explain the radioactive atoms found in meteorites? The post Forming the Sun on a Molecular Cloud Filament appeared...
Search for an Alien Message to a Nearby Star
Michaël Gillon et al 2022 AJ 164 221 An attempt to eavesdrop on optical signals from extraterrestrial civilizations found no signals, despite being capable of detecting constant signals of just ...
A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away: A Candidate z ∼ 12 Galaxy in Early JWST CEERS Imaging
Steven L. Finkelstein et al 2022 ApJL 940 L55 Using JWST photometry, researchers identified a galaxy with a potential redshift greater than 12; if follow-up spectroscopy confirms this finding, it...
Featured Image: Star-Forming Galaxies in the Nearby Universe
A survey of 45 nearby galaxies may help researchers interpret ultraviolet emission from galaxies in the early universe. The post Featured Image: Star-Forming Galaxies in the Nearby Universe ap...
Serendipitous Supernovae
In an era of industrial-scale surveys of the night sky, sometimes unrelated projects happen to spot the same short-lived event with different tools. A new article published in The Astrophysical J...
Discovery of Year-scale Time Variability from Thermal X-Ray Emission in Tycho’s Supernova Remnant
Masamune Matsuda et al 2022 ApJ 940 105 Researchers detect for the first time X-ray emission from interstellar medium gas swept up by the expansion of Tycho’s supernova remnant — what’s lef...
Stellar Loci. VI. An Updated Catalog of the Best and Brightest Metal-Poor Stars
Shuai Xu et al 2022 ApJS 263 29 A new catalog of metal-poor stars in the Milky Way provides targets for studies of nucleosynthesis in the early universe, which can be probed with spectroscopic fo...
Using Spacecraft Signals to Measure Sulfur Species on Venus
Upcoming missions to Venus will seek trace amounts of sulfur-containing molecules that can help us study the planet's sulfuric acid clouds and search for active volcanoes. The post Using Spacec...
Spectroscopic Mapping of Io’s Surface with HST/STIS: SO2 Frost, Sulfur Allotropes, and Large-scale Compositional Patterns
Samantha K. Trumbo et al 2022 Planet. Sci. J. 3 272 New spectral maps of the surface of the most volcanically active body in the solar system — Jupiter’s moon Io — confirm previous findings...
High-Energy Photon Opacity in the Twisted Magnetospheres of Magnetars
Kun Hu et al 2022 ApJ 940 91 A research team considered the factors that block the propagation of photons within the region governed by the intense magnetic field of a magnetar: the extremely den...
GOALS-JWST: Unveiling Dusty Compact Sources in the Merging Galaxy IIZw096
Hanae Inami et al 2022 ApJL 940 L6 JWST observations open a new window onto a luminous infrared galaxy, pinning down its brilliant emission to a source less than 1,100 light-years across and dred...
Giving Stars a Brake
Astrobites reports on how stellar rotation is slowed by stellar winds via magnetic braking, with a special focus on stars cooler than the Sun. The post Giving Stars a Brake appeared first on A...
Investigating a Bright Flare in a Nearby Galaxy
Astronomers have seen an extraordinarily bright, long-lasting radio flare in the center of a nearby galaxy. Could this be evidence of a star being shredded by a supermassive black hole? The pos...
Color Dependence of the Transit Detectability of Young Active M Dwarfs
Kohei Miyakawa et al 2022 AJ 164 209 It may be far more difficult to detect planets around rapidly rotating (period less than one day) M dwarfs, which might explain why planets in the Pleiades st...
The “Snow Line” on Venus’s Maxwell Montes: Varying Elevation Implies a Dynamic Atmosphere
Andriana Strezoski and Allan H. Treiman 2022 Planet. Sci. J. 3 264 Venus’s tallest mountain has a line above which metallic and semi-metallic compounds are present on the planet’s surface, an...
Premaximum Spectroscopic Diversity of Hydrogen-poor Superluminous Supernovae
Réka Könyves-Tóth 2022 ApJ 940 69 Differences in pre-explosion spectra of certain superluminous supernovae are correlated with differences in temperature, polarization, ejecta velocity, and, p...
Searching for a Star That Survived a Supernova
Researchers have discovered a potential companion to a star that exploded 8,000 years ago. Its characteristics raise interesting questions about which stars are able to donate enough material to ...
Improving the Spatial Resolution of Solar Images Based on an Improved Conditional Denoising Diffusion Probability Model
Wei Song et al 2022 ApJS 263 25 A new method can turn low-resolution solar images into high-resolution ones, using a technique in which a computer learns to undo the process of adding noise to hi...
A New Look at Gamma Rays from Our Galaxy’s Next-Door Neighbour
Astrobites reports on a new investigation of the Andromeda Galaxy's gamma-ray emission that reveals it to be far different from originally thought. The post A New Look at Gamma Rays from Our Ga...
The Hi Mass Function of Star-forming Galaxies at z ∼ 0.35
Apurba Bera et al 2022 ApJL 940 L10 Galaxies with large reservoirs of neutral hydrogen gas were relatively uncommon four billion years ago compared to now, which suggests that massive galaxies to...
The First Y+Y Binary: Cool Brown Dwarfs Come in Pairs
All scientists love to label and classify the natural world, but brown dwarfs resist such artificial labels and can't be cleanly categorized as either a star or as a planet. Now with JWST though,...
Faint Stars in a Faint Galaxy. II. The Low-mass Stellar Ini...s Function of the Boötes I Ultrafaint Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy
Carrie Filion et al 2022 ApJ 939 38 The stellar initial mass function — in other words, the mass distribution of stars formed from a single gas cloud — for the Boötes I ultra-faint dwarf gal...
Double Shadows at the Lunar Poles
Patrick O’Brien and Shane Byrne 2022 Planet. Sci. J. 3 258 Researchers have created the first map of double shadows on the Moon: regions permanently shielded from sunlight as well as scattered ...
TESS Detects Pulsating Stars in the Pleiades Cluster
Astronomers pair data from a planet-hunting spacecraft and a stellar-position plotter to track down pulsations in a nearby star cluster. The post TESS Detects Pulsating Stars in the Pleiades Cl...
Towards a Comprehensive View of Accretion, Inner Disks, and...T Tauri Stars: An ODYSSEUS Study of the Orion OB1b Association
Caeley V. Pittman et al 2022 AJ 164 201 Modeling of nine low-mass stars in the Orion star-forming complex suggests relatively high accretion rates, and the rates calculated from near-ultraviolet ...
Detection of GeV Emission from an Ultralong Gamma-Ray Burst with the Fermi Large Area Telescope
Yi-Yun Huang et al 2022 ApJL 940 L36 Researchers rule out the possibility that GRB 220627A is a gravitationally lensed gamma-ray burst, instead favoring the scenario in which it is intrinsically ...
Biases from Bulging Planets
Astrobites reports on what we might be getting wrong by assuming that slightly squished planets are instead perfectly round. The post Biases from Bulging Planets appeared first on AAS Nova .
On the Convergence of the Milky Way and M31 Kinematics from Cosmological Simulations
J. E. Forero-Romero and D. Sierra-Porta 2022 ApJ 939 16 Estimates of the mass of the Local Group of galaxies based on the simulated movement of the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies must account f...
Multiple Stellar Populations of Globular Clusters from Homo...hotometry. VII. Metal-poor Populations in 47 Tucanae (NGC 104)
Jae-Woo Lee 2022 ApJS 263 20 New photometry suggests that the globular cluster 47 Tucanae could be the result of a merger between two separate clusters, as evidenced by the cluster’s double-pea...
More Supernova Detections May Be on the Horizon with High-Energy Neutrinos
In rare cases, certain supernovae might produce high-energy neutrinos, allowing our neutrino detectors to track down exploding stars out to greater distances. The post More Supernova Detections...
Binding Energies of Interstellar Relevant S-bearing Species on Water Ice Mantles: A Quantum Mechanical Investigation
Jessica Perrero et al 2022 ApJ 938 158 Calculations of the binding energies of sulfur-containing molecules may help to solve the mystery of why sulfur is so depleted in the gas phase in the inter...
Could Some High-Redshift Galaxy Candidates Actually Be Supernovae?
Some high-redshift galaxy candidates in JWST images are curiously point-like. New research investigates whether these sources might be supernovae instead. The post Could Some High-Redshift Gala...
Ultramassive Black Holes Formed by Triple Quasar Mergers at z ∼ 2
Yueying Ni et al 2022 ApJL 940 L49 Step aside, supermassive black holes: simulations suggest that ultramassive (>100 billion solar masses) black holes can form as the result of two successive mer...
A Subsurface Magma Ocean on Io: Exploring the Steady State of Partially Molten Planetary Bodies
Yoshinori Miyazaki and David J. Stevenson 2022 Planet. Sci. J. 3 256 Researchers explore the possibility that the interior of Jupiter’s highly volcanic moon, Io, contains a “magmatic sponge�...
Featured Image: How Do Supermassive Black Holes Eat?
New high-resolution three-dimensional simulations explore the nature of accretion onto supermassive black holes in elliptical galaxies. The post Featured Image: How Do Supermassive Black Holes ...
A Mirage or an Oasis? Water Vapor in the Atmosphere of the Warm Neptune TOI-674 b
Jonathan Brande et al 2022 AJ 164 197 New Hubble Space Telescope observations provide some evidence for the presence of water vapor in the atmosphere of a warm Neptune exoplanet, which may eventu...
The Chocolate Chip Cookie Model: Dust Geometry of Milky Way–like Disk Galaxies
Jiafeng Lu et al 2022 ApJ 938 139 A model in which chocolate chip nebulae are embedded in the cookie-ish interstellar medium is able to reproduce the pattern of dust extinction derived from a sam...
Planning for Touchdown: New Maps of the Moon’s South Pole
When the next moonwalkers land near the lunar south pole, they're going to need a map. With a possible Artemis III landing just a few years away, planetary scientists are hard at work trying to m...
To E or Not to E: Numerical Nuances of Global Coronal Models
Michaela Brchnelova et al 2022 ApJS 263 18 A new consideration of boundary conditions for models of the Sun’s upper atmosphere, or corona, may provide a way to cut down on artificial electric f...
How to Make (and Find) Neutron Stars with a Dash of Dark Matter
Neutron stars containing a small amount of dark matter might be able to explain some unusual observations. How would these objects form, and how can we study them further? The post How to Make ...
On the Origin of the Dichotomy of Stellar Activity Cycles
Alfio Bonanno and Enrico Corsaro 2022 ApJL 939 L26 Researchers propose that whether the length of a star’s magnetic activity cycle increases or decreases with stellar rotation rate depends on t...
Molecular and Atomic Clouds Associated with the Gamma-Ray Supernova Remnant Puppis A
M. Aruga et al 2022 ApJ 938 94 Radio observations of a shell-like supernova remnant reveal it to be located within the Local Arm of the Milky Way, and estimates of the shock history suggest that ...
Populations of Magnetized Filaments in the Intracluster Medium and the Galactic Center
F. Yusef-Zadeh et al 2022 ApJL 939 L21 Researchers explore the possibility that similar physical processes are responsible for the intriguing filamentary structures at the center of our galaxy an...
I Know We’ve (NIR)Cam So Far (but We Got So Far to Go)
Astrobites reports on some of the initial instrumentation challenges and solutions for JWST's Near Infrared Camera. The post I Know We’ve (NIR)Cam So Far (but We Got So Far to Go) appeared f...
First Detection of Hot Molecular Cloud Cores in the Small Magellanic Cloud
The discovery of hot, star-forming cores in the Milky Way's galactic neighbor lends insight into the formation of massive stars in metal-poor galaxies. The post First Detection of Hot Molecular...
Mapping Lunar Swirls with Machine Learning: The Application...age Classification Algorithms in Reiner Gamma and Mare Ingenii
Frank C. Chuang et al 2022 Planet. Sci. J. 3 231 Combining two algorithms allows researchers to identify the locations of lunar swirls: areas of the Moon’s surface that are slightly more reflec...
Radio Analysis of SN2004C Reveals an Unusual CSM Density Profile as a Harbinger of Core Collapse
Lindsay DeMarchi et al 2022 ApJ 938 84 Extensive radio observations suggest that supernova SN2004C lost mass at a highly variable rate in the time before exploding, potentially due to gravity (no...
Probing Photon Statistics in Adaptive Optics Images with SCExAO/MEC
Sarah Steiger et al 2022 AJ 164 186 Researchers demonstrate the first use of Stochastic Speckle Discrimination on an extended source, showing that this technique can distinguish between errant sp...
A Simple New Way to Determine Magnetic Fields in the Solar Corona
Researchers rely on complex models to estimate the magnetic field of the Sun's upper atmosphere. Could there be an easier way? The post A Simple New Way to Determine Magnetic Fields in the Sola...
Metallicities of Five z > 5 Emission-line Galaxies in SMACS 0723 Revealed by JWST
A. J. Taylor et al 2022 ApJL 939 L3 Five galaxies observed by JWST show signs of having high-temperature, low-metallicity gas and intense star formation, and new techniques used to analyze the da...
ALCHEMI Finds a “Shocking” Carbon Footprint in the Starburst Galaxy NGC 253
Nanase Harada et al 2022 ApJ 938 80 Radio observations of carbon dioxide allow researchers to trace the distribution of ice in a galaxy with robust star formation, finding that ice is likely subl...
Featured Image: Detecting Dust in the Local Universe
Maps of nearby galaxies using data from the Herschel Space Telescope give researchers a new perspective on dust evolution. The post Featured Image: Detecting Dust in the Local Universe appeare...
Different Pipelines, Different Atmospheres?
Converting raw JWST data into an inventory of an exoplanet's atmosphere requires many modeling choices. Recently, a new study investigated the implication of these choices, and dove into how astr...
Focusing on the Brightest Gamma-ray Burst of All Time
A new Focus Issue of the Astrophysical Journal Letters published yesterday takes a close look at GRB 221009A: a spectacular once-in-ten-millennia event. The post Focusing on the Brightest Gamma...
X Marks the Spot: A Treasure Map for High-Energy Cosmic Rays
Where should we start our search for the highest-energy cosmic rays? A recent research article maps out a possible answer. The post X Marks the Spot: A Treasure Map for High-Energy Cosmic Rays ...
Investigating Polarized Magnetar Flares
Researchers use spacecraft data to understand how the highly magnetized remnant of a dead star released a powerful X-ray flare. The post Investigating Polarized Magnetar Flares appeared first ...
Age Is Just a Number: Radioactive Dating in Stars
Astrobites reports on how to determine the ages of stars by measuring their uranium reserves as they slowly tick away. The post Age Is Just a Number: Radioactive Dating in Stars appeared first...
Featured Image: A Neutron Star Collision
Researchers use complex fluid dynamics models to understand what happens when neutron stars — the ultra-dense remnants of massive stars — meet in a catastrophic collision. The post Featured...
Deep Learning, Deep Images, Disk Galaxies
Modern machine learning algorithms, paired with the most cutting edge JWST data, are uncovering previously hidden young disk galaxies. The post Deep Learning, Deep Images, Disk Galaxies appear...
Update on JWST Observations of Galaxy Cluster SMACS 0723
Five recent research articles examine the first JWST image, demystifying dark matter distributions, cataloging chemical abundances, and glimpsing globular clusters. The post Update on JWST Obse...
Could Rings Explain an Intriguing Exoplanet Spectrum?
Astrobites reports on K2-33b: a potentially puffy planet that might be a Saturn-like satellite instead. The post Could Rings Explain an Intriguing Exoplanet Spectrum? appeared first on AAS Nov...
Finding the Best Wavelengths to Study the Sun’s Magnetic Field
Scientists have taken stock of the Sun's many spectral lines to find the best way to measure its magnetic field — key to understanding a wide range of explosive phenomena. The post Finding th...
How Quickly Do We Need to Track Down the Next Neutron Star Merger?
When gravitational waves from colliding neutron stars rumbled through our detectors in 2017, astronomers raced to track down the light emitted in the collision — but caught critical wavelengths...
Featured Image: Making the First Stars in Spinning Clouds
Researchers use simulations to explore the possible masses of the first stars in the universe — which may determine whether those stars are still present in the universe today. The post Featu...
Bangs Without Flashes: Gravitational Waves and Elusive Neutrinos
Astronomers can learn much from gravitational waves and high-energy neutrinos separately, but could gain much more if both were ever spotted together emanating from the same source. A new publica...
Hot Days and Cloudy Nights on a “Heavy Metal” Exoplanet
A well-known hot Jupiter exoplanet gets a new phase curve thanks to JWST, and the results support the hypothesis that this scorching planet has metallic clouds. The post Hot Days and Cloudy Nig...
Finding High-Redshift Dead Galaxies (but for Real This Time)
Astrobites reports on a new way to pick out dead galaxies that may help us learn how star formation stops in the early universe. The post Finding High-Redshift Dead Galaxies (but for Real This ...
A Fresh Look at Kepler-444’s Ancient Planetary System
A research team tackles a complex three-star, five-planet system and finds evidence for a dustier protoplanetary disk than previously thought. The post A Fresh Look at Kepler-444’s Ancient Pl...
New Phenomena on the Quiet Sun
Step aside, solar flares: two recent research articles explore the Sun when it's at its calmest and find that there's plenty to discover. The post New Phenomena on the Quiet Sun appeared first...
A New Spider Joins a Deadly Club
Arachnophobes, take notice: another black widow pulsar has been spotted hunting in the night. The post A New Spider Joins a Deadly Club appeared first on AAS Nova .
Black Holes as the Source of Dark Energy
New research suggests that as our universe expands, black holes gain mass, and this connection between black holes and the universe's expansion is the source of dark energy. The post Black Hole...
Featured Image: Two Young Star Clusters in the Milky Way
Researchers track down a pair of metal-poor star clusters on the outskirts of the Milky Way to understand how metallicity affects the masses of young stars. The post Featured Image: Two Young S...
First Look at Extragalactic Cepheid Variable Stars with JWST
Certain variable stars provide a way for us to measure the distances to nearby galaxies, and JWST will allow us to monitor these stars with greater precision. The post First Look at Extragalact...
Are Dusty Galaxies Getting in the Way of High-Redshift Studies?
JWST has observed many galaxies that researchers believe are from the first 500 million years after the Big Bang, but dusty interlopers might be skewing our perception of this important period in...
Plunging Through the Plumes of Enceladus
Though it exists only on paper for now, a proposed mission to send a spacecraft straight through the plumes of Enceladus offers planetary scientists and adrenaline junkies alike plenty to get exc...
Detecting Exoplanets’ Elusive Magnetic Fields with Radio Transits
Astrobites reports on a promising method for detecting and constraining exoplanetary magnetic fields: measuring their effects on a host star’s radio emission during transits. The post Detecti...
Creating a Perfect Solar Storm
When two coronal mass ejections collide in interplanetary space, they can create an even more powerful storm. Recent research explores exactly which characteristics can turn solar storms from mod...
Featured Image: Outflows from the Silver Coin Galaxy
About 11 million light-years away, the starburst galaxy NGC 253 spews gas into circumgalactic space. What can X-ray observations tell us about this star-forming system? The post Featured Image:...
Searching for the Seeds of Supermassive Black Holes
How did supermassive black holes come to be? Researchers have devised a plan to track down the "seeds" that sprouted into the behemoths we see today. The post Searching for the Seeds of Superma...
A Survey of Shredded Stars
A new look at 30 instances of stars being torn apart by black holes gives insight into the physical properties of these events. The post A Survey of Shredded Stars appeared first on AAS Nova .
The Curious Case of the Dwarf Galaxy Pegasus W
Astrobites reports on a newly discovered local galaxy, which has re-ignited the debate about the role that reionization plays in quenching ultra-faint dwarf galaxies. The post The Curious Case ...
The Corgi of Exoplanets: Methane Mystery on HAT-P-18b
JWST helps astronomers track down the tiny tail and missing methane of exoplanet HAT-P-18b. The post The Corgi of Exoplanets: Methane Mystery on HAT-P-18b appeared first on AAS Nova .
Knock, Knock. Who’s There? A Free-Floating Planet!
Astrobites reports on a free-floating planet that may have paid a visit to a binary star system hosting an exoplanet and a debris disk. The post Knock, Knock. Who’s There? A Free-Floating Pla...
AAS 241: Day 4
The final day of AAS 241 brought insights into exploding stars, exposition on open-source code, and a summary of a fantastic year of science with JWST. The post AAS 241: Day 4 appeared first o...
AAS 241: Day 3
Check out astrobites's coverage of Day 3 of AAS 241 to learn about how astronomers unearth black holes, study tiny galaxies, and map magnetic fields! The post AAS 241: Day 3 appeared first on ...
AAS 241: Day 2
Read about exoplanet discoveries, plasma raining down on the Sun, and much, much more in astrobites's summary of Day 2 at AAS 241! The post AAS 241: Day 2 appeared first on AAS Nova .
AAS 241: Day 1
Check out summaries of plenaries, town halls, and lots of JWST news in astrobites's coverage of Day 1 of AAS 241! The post AAS 241: Day 1 appeared first on AAS Nova .
AAS 241: Welcome!
This week we’ll be bringing you updates from the 241st AAS meeting, happening in Seattle, WA, and online. The post AAS 241: Welcome! appeared first on AAS Nova .
AAS Publishing at AAS 241 in Seattle (and Online!)
Will you be at the 241st American Astronomical Society meeting? We look forward to seeing you there! The post AAS Publishing at AAS 241 in Seattle (and Online!) appeared first on AAS Nova .
From the Laboratory to CW Leonis: A Hunt for a Metallic Molecule
What molecules are hiding in the spectrum of the sooty, dust-shrouded carbon star CW Leonis? The post From the Laboratory to CW Leonis: A Hunt for a Metallic Molecule appeared first on AAS Nov...
New Insights into the Puzzle of NGC 1068
Astrobites reports on the active galactic nucleus–starburst composite galaxy NGC 1068 and a model for its multi-messenger emission. The post New Insights into the Puzzle of NGC 1068 appeared...
Looking Back on a Year of Astronomy News with AAS Nova
Join us as we close out the year by looking back on some of the most-read AAS Nova highlights from 2022. The post Looking Back on a Year of Astronomy News with AAS Nova appeared first on AAS N...
Non-detection of He I in the Atmosphere of GJ 1214b with Keck/NIRSPEC, at a Time of Minimal Telluric Contamination
Jessica J. Spake et al 2022 ApJL 939 L11 New observations find no sign of helium in a much-studied exoplanet’s atmosphere; the presence of helium may have indicated that the planet’s atmosphe...
Selections from 2022: Tracing Satellite Tracks in Survey Images
Satellites are increasingly prevalent in orbit around Earth and in our astronomical images. How has the impact of Starlink satellites changed over time, and what are the prospects for the future?...
A Population of Dipper Stars from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite Mission
Benjamin K. Capistrant et al 2022 ApJS 263 14 Researchers have observed and characterized the largest collection of “dipper” stars — those that dim by 10–50% — finding that these stars�...
The Effect of Light Deflection by Solar System Objects on High-precision Square Kilometre Array Astrometry
Yingjie Li et al 2022 ApJ 938 58 Researchers calculated the ability of various solar system objects to gravitationally bend light from distant objects, which will be necessary to know before cond...
Selections from 2022: Would Changing Jupiter’s Orbit Affect Earth’s Habitability?
If the orbit of our solar system's most massive planet were slightly different, would it make Earth more or less hospitable to life? The post Selections from 2022: Would Changing Jupiter’s Or...
Selections from 2022: New Observations of a Spectacular Active Galactic Nucleus
OJ 287 is an active galactic nucleus containing one of the most massive black holes currently known. New observations give insight into its magnetic field structure and jet creation. The post S...
Can the Violent Merger of White Dwarfs Explain the Slowest Declining Type Ia Supernova SN 2011aa?
Anirban Dutta et al 2022 ApJL 938 L22 Type Ia supernovae aren’t always the result of a white dwarf accreting material from a stellar companion, and the huge ejecta mass of a recent explosion su...
Chemical Abundances of Eight Highly Extincted Milky Way Planetary Nebulae
Catherine Manea et al 2022 AJ 164 185 Spectra of eight planetary nebulae — the beautiful, short-lived nebulae formed when low- and intermediate-mass stars evolve off the main sequence — yield...
Selections from 2022: JWST Sees Sparkles in a Strongly Lensed Galaxy
The very first image from JWST held plenty of surprises. Researchers investigated several "sparkles" that might be individual globular clusters seen from billions of light-years away. The post ...
Selections from 2022: Prospects for Growing Crops in Asteroid Soils
The loose surface material on certain types of asteroids contains small amounts of nutrients necessary for plants. But can Earth plants really grow in space "soil"? The post Selections from 202...
Surface Conditions and Resource Accessibility at Potential Artemis Landing Sites 007 and 011
Nandita Kumari et al 2022 Planet. Sci. J. 3 224 A study of two of six potential landing sites for Artemis astronauts suggests that the two sites are traversible but contain large boulder fields, ...
Discovery of a Brown Dwarf with Quasi-spherical Mass Loss
Dary A. Ruíz-Rodríguez et al 2022 ApJ 938 54 Observations enabled a chance reveal of a young brown dwarf losing mass nearly spherically, which may be linked to the brief phase of deuterium fusi...
Selections from 2022: A Pulsar in the Large Magellanic Cloud
Astronomers found one of the most luminous known extragalactic radio pulsars, which may have previously escaped noticed due to its unusual pulse profile. The post Selections from 2022: A Pulsar...
Identifying Rocks: Humans vs. Mars Rovers
Would human-collected data lead us to the same conclusions as rover-collected data? Since we can't (yet) send human geologists to Mars, scientists used human "rovers" on Earth to find out. The ...
Prompt Emission of γ-Ray Bursts in the High-density Environment of Active Galactic Nucleus Accretion Disks
Davide Lazzati et al 2022 ApJL 938 L18 Gamma-ray bursts in high density environments such as the disk of material around an accreting black hole are likely to be long lived, with a characteristic...
Evolution of the Hub-filament Structures in IC 5146 in the ... the Energy Balance of Gravity, Turbulence, and Magnetic Field
Eun Jung Chung et al 2022 AJ 164 175 Polarization measurements give insight into the conditions and origins of a highly structured dark interstellar cloud; the collision of turbulent gas flows fo...
Finding Ways to Catch Collapsars Making Heavy Metals
Massive stars that collapse to form black holes might be one way to make heavy metals. Now, astronomers have explored ways to identify heavy-metal creation from supernova light curves. The post...
Signatures of Mass Ratio Reversal in Gravitational Waves from Merging Binary Black Holes
Floor S. Broekgaarden et al 2022 ApJ 938 45 A study of population synthesis models suggests that the more massive of the two members in a black hole binary system forms second, but few constraint...
Dancing with the (Six) Stars: A 200-Year Story of the Castor System
Astrobites reports on a sextuple star system and efforts to measure the six stars' masses once and for all. The post Dancing with the (Six) Stars: A 200-Year Story of the Castor System appeare...
Observation and Modeling of the Solar Wind Turbulence Evolution in the Sub-Mercury Inner Heliosphere
Daniele Telloni et al 2022 ApJL 938 L8 A chance alignment between the Parker Solar Probe and BepiColombo spacecraft allowed researchers to study the evolution of turbulent plasma very close to th...
Featured Image: Re-tuning Our Understanding of the Guitar Nebula
A fast-moving pulsar has created a spectacular guitar-shaped wake that astronomers have been studying for more than 25 years. The post Featured Image: Re-tuning Our Understanding of the Guitar ...
The Solar Neighborhood L: Spectroscopic Discovery of K Dwarfs Younger Than 1 Gyr and New Binaries within 30 pc
Hodari-Sadiki Hubbard-James et al 2022 AJ 164 174 High-resolution spectra of 35 nearby K dwarfs have been obtained and analyzed as part of an effort that will ultimately survey thousands of K dwa...
Dotting the i’s, Crossing the t’s: Follow-Up of an Exo-Venus
Fortune favors astronomers who take meticulous follow-up observations: sometimes you set out to confirm one planet candidate and end up authenticating two. The post Dotting the i’s, Crossing ...
Different Degrees of Nitrogen and Carbon Depletion in the Warm Molecular Layers of Protoplanetary Disks
Kenji Furuya et al 2022 ApJ 938 29 Researchers explore the depletion of nitrogen, an important but little-studied component of protoplanetary disks, and discover that it is mainly lost in the gas...
Assessing Environmental Factors of Alluvial Fan Formation on Titan
Rebecca A. Lewis-Merrill et al 2022 Planet. Sci. J. 3 223 Models indicate that soil deposits on Saturn’s moon Titan are correlated with factors such as average precipitation and elevation, allo...
JWST Reveals Star-Formation Details in a Dusty Galaxy
The interacting galaxies of VV 114 have been observed with many space- and ground-based telescopes, but astronomers have never seen them quite like this before. The post JWST Reveals Star-Forma...
Temperature Spectra of Interstellar Dust Grains Heated by Cosmic Rays. III. Mixed-composition Grains
Juris Kalvāns and Juris Roberts Kalnin 2022 ApJS 263 5 Researchers calculate the energies and temperatures of icy dust grains in the interstellar medium after these grains have been irradiated b...
Coronal Mass Ejection Deformation at 0.1 au Observed by WISPR
Carlos R. Braga et al 2022 ApJ 938 13 The deformation of a coronal mass ejection — a huge, sudden release of plasma from the Sun’s upper atmosphere — may explain why these events do not alw...
Planets Around Not-Quite-Planets
Astrobites reports on the detection of a possible transiting exoplanet around a brown dwarf. The post Planets Around Not-Quite-Planets appeared first on AAS Nova .
New Dynamical State and Habitability of the HD 45364 Planetary System
Zhexing Li et al 2022 AJ 164 163 A reanalysis of an exoplanetary system containing two giant planets within the host star’s habitable zone indicates that the planets are not in a truly resonant...
Understanding Magnetic Knots in Delta Sunspots
Researchers study rare, flare-producing sunspots to understand what makes them different from sunspots that don't produce flares. The post Understanding Magnetic Knots in Delta Sunspots appear...
Sizing Up Galaxies at Cosmic Noon
JWST observations might make astronomers rethink established "rules" that govern how galaxies of different masses and star-formation rates evolve. The post Sizing Up Galaxies at Cosmic Noon ap...
ALMA Detection of Dust Trapping around Lagrangian Points in the LkCa 15 Disk
Feng Long et al 2022 ApJL 937 L1 New high-resolution observations reveal three dust rings around a young star, one of which exhibits the characteristic horseshoe shape induced by the presence of ...
Selenographic and Local Time Dependence of Lunar Exospheric Sodium as Observed by LADEE
E. C. M. Dawkins et al 2022 Planet. Sci. J. 3 220 Sodium gas appears to be denser above dark lunar maria and less dense above brighter lunar soils, but this could be because the faint sodium emis...
Light-curve Model for Luminous Red Novae and Inferences about the Ejecta of Stellar Mergers
Tatsuya Matsumoto and Brian D. Metzger 2022 ApJ 938 5 Researchers present a new one-dimensional model of luminous red nova light curves, and the model has far-reaching applications to the mergers...
Four Perspectives on Neutron Stars, Pulsars, and Magnetars
Four recent articles give different perspectives on the ultra-dense, rapidly spinning, highly magnetized remnants of massive stars. The post Four Perspectives on Neutron Stars, Pulsars, and Mag...
Supernova-driven Turbulent Metal Mixing in High-redshift Ga...r Medium and its Imprints on Metal-poor Stars in the Milky Way
Anne Noer Kolborg et al 2022 ApJL 936 L26 Numerical simulations help researchers understand the processes that regulate the mixing of metals newly introduced to the interstellar medium by superno...
Zooming In on an Active Galactic Nucleus Outflow with JWST
Astrobites reports on how the outflows from NGC 7469's active galactic nucleus interact with the surrounding interstellar medium. The post Zooming In on an Active Galactic Nucleus Outflow with ...
Featured Image: Considering Craters on Uranus’s Moon Miranda
Icy solar system moons typically have sharp, well-defined craters, but Uranus's moon Miranda has gentler surface features. What makes Miranda's craters so subtle? The post Featured Image: Consi...
ACCESS: Tentative Detection of H2O in the Ground-based Optical Transmission Spectrum of the Low-density Hot Saturn HATS-5b
Natalie H. Allen et al 2022 AJ 164 153 A hot Saturn exoplanet located 804 light-years away has a water-dominated optical transmission spectrum and — researchers suspect — a richly featured ne...
Four Stars, Many Eclipses
A flurry of eclipses, then back to eclipsing binary business as usual: what could cause such a strange light curve? The post Four Stars, Many Eclipses appeared first on AAS Nova .
Disconnecting the Dots: Re-examining the Nature of Stellar “Strings” in the Milky Way
Catherine Zucker et al 2022 ApJ 936 160 Using data from the Gaia spacecraft, researchers reassess the importance of extended stellar filaments in the Milky Way, finding that all of these purporte...
A Beginner’s Guide to Predicting Supernovae
Astrobites reports on an updated neutrino detector that may be able to alert us to impending supernovae hours in advance. The post A Beginner’s Guide to Predicting Supernovae appeared first ...
Mining S-PLUS for Metal-poor Stars in the Milky Way
Vinicius M. Placco et al 2022 ApJS 262 8 Spectroscopic follow-up of low-metallicity star candidates yields a wealth of metal-poor stars; roughly 92% of the stars in the sample have iron abundance...
Planets May Have More Time to Form Than Previously Thought
A new study loosens the constraints on planet formation, suggesting that most protoplanetary disks stick around for at least 5 million years. The post Planets May Have More Time to Form Than Pr...
Releasing Atmospheric Martian Dust in Sand Grain Impacts
T. Becker et al 2022 Planet. Sci. J. 3 195 Laboratory experiments involving simulated Martian soil suggest that the fine dust found in Mars’s atmosphere can be produced by individual sand grain...
A Disruptive New Way to Form Galactic Center Stars
How did the stars at the center of our galaxy attain their curious arrangement? A new theory suggests that a shredded star paved the way for new stars to form in a narrow disk. The post A Disru...
Interaction of a Relativistic Magnetized Collisionless Shock with a Dense Clump
Sara Tomita et al 2022 ApJL 936 L9 Particle-in-cell and magnetohydrodynamic simulations provide a way to understand the physical processes at play when a shock interacts with a dense clump of pla...
New Class of Laboratory Astrophysics Experiments: Application to Radiative Accretion Processes around Neutron Stars
V. Tranchant et al 2022 ApJ 936 14 A theoretical framework for a series of laboratory experiments would leverage existing high-power lasers to study supersonic radiation-dominated waves relevant ...
A NICER View of a Bursting X-ray Binary
Researchers analyze 51 X-ray bursts from a neutron star snaring material from its stellar companion, forming one of the most active low-mass X-ray binaries known. The post A NICER View of a Bur...
A Robust Test of the Existence of Primordial Black Holes in Galactic Dark Matter Halos
Marek Abramowicz et al 2022 ApJL 935 L28 Searches for light black holes — those with masses of 1–2 solar masses — may provide a way to support or dismiss the existence of primordial black h...
A Tiny Flare from a Tiny Star
Astrobites reports on a tiny stellar flare from the Sun's next-door neighbor: Proxima Centauri. The post A Tiny Flare from a Tiny Star appeared first on AAS Nova .
A Search for Radio Technosignatures at the Solar Gravitational Lens Targeting Alpha Centauri
Nick Tusay et al 2022 AJ 164 116 A search for extraterrestrial signals from the gravitational foci of nearby stars comes up short, but insights gleaned from the effort will help place constraints...
Featured Image: A Plasma-Producing Pulsar
New simulations explore plasma production and particle acceleration near the surface of a dense, highly magnetized pulsar. The post Featured Image: A Plasma-Producing Pulsar appeared first on ...
Ring Seismology of the Ice Giants Uranus and Neptune
Joseph A. A’Hearn et al 2022 Planet. Sci. J. 3 194 Calculations suggest that the waves in the rings of Uranus and Neptune can help focus our understanding of these planets’ interiors, but an ...
The California Legacy Survey. III. On the Shoulders of (Som...tionship between Inner Small Planets and Outer Massive Planets
Lee J. Rosenthal et al 2022 ApJS 262 1 Planetary systems containing a small, close-in planet are more likely to also host a distant gas giant than other systems, but less likely to host a massive...
Neutrino Emission from Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transients
Ersilia Guarini et al 2022 ApJ 935 157 Two neutrino events thought to be of atmospheric origin are consistent with one formation scenario for luminous fast blue optical transients, though follow-...
A Supernova Hits a Cosmic Speed Bump
In 2021, astronomers saw a star explode, then watched as its remains strangely changed colors. A recent study suggests an explanation for this behavior: the remnants hit a speed bump. The post ...
One After Another: The Effect of Repeated Coronal Mass Ejections
Does a massive explosion of solar plasma — a coronal mass ejection — move through the solar system differently if other explosions preceded it? The post One After Another: The Effect of Rep...
Multiple Channels for the Onset of Magnetism in Isolated White Dwarfs
Stefano Bagnulo and John D. Landstreet 2022 ApJL 935 L12 High-mass white dwarfs may attain magnetic fields through an existing dynamo, while relaxation of a magnetic field from interior to surfac...
Radio Emission from UV Cet: Auroral Emission from a Stellar Magnetosphere
T. S. Bastian et al 2022 ApJ 935 99 UV Ceti frequently flares at optical, ultraviolet, soft X-ray, and radio wavelengths, and researchers have now observed a 2-hour radio outburst in high spectra...
Under Pressure: A New Technique for Measuring Gas Surface Density
Deducing the mass of the gas in a protoplanetary disk is notoriously tricky. In this study, a team develops and deploys a new technique to tackle the challenge. The post Under Pressure: A New T...
India’s First Robotic Eye for Time-domain Astrophysics: The GROWTH-India Telescope
Harsh Kumar et al 2022 AJ 164 90 The new 0.7-meter robotic telescope, commissioned in 2018, will contribute to time-domain astronomy, in particular helping researchers make follow-up observations...
Finding Quasars behind the Galactic Plane. II. Spectroscopic Identifications of 204 Quasars at ∣b∣ < 20°
Yuming Fu et al 2022 ApJS 261 32 Hidden no more: researchers have spectroscopically confirmed 204 quasars — extremely luminous galaxies powered by supermassive black holes — obscured by the g...
How We Might Spot Biosignatures in the Solar System
Researchers test an instrument's ability to detect a certain class of biosignature molecules, potentially providing a way to detect life in the hidden oceans of icy solar system moons. The post...
The First Short GRB Millimeter Afterglow: The Wide-angled Jet of the Extremely Energetic SGRB 211106A
Tanmoy Laskar et al 2022 ApJL 935 L11 Researchers report the discovery of the first millimeter-wavelength afterglow from a short gamma-ray burst and confirm the afterglow of another gamma-ray bur...
JWST Takes a Peek at the First-Ever Galaxies
Astrobites reports on brand new data that could force us to rethink how galaxies formed and evolved in the early universe. The post JWST Takes a Peek at the First-Ever Galaxies appeared first ...
Featured Image: The Making of the First JWST Images
How did those iconic first images from JWST come to be? Members of the JWST Early Release Observations committee describe the process from brainstorming to broadcasting. The post Featured Image...
Are Active Galactic Nuclei in Post-starburst Galaxies Driving the Change or Along for the Ride?
Lauranne Lanz et al 2022 ApJ 935 29 Active galactic nuclei in post-starburst galaxies are likely fed by the same processes that drive the transition from star forming to quiescent, and thus are l...
Ultraviolet Spectroscopy of Lucy Mission Targets with the Hubble Space Telescope
Oriel A. Humes et al 2022 Planet. Sci. J. 3 190 Hubble spectroscopy of four out of five targets of the Lucy mission reveals a near-ultraviolet feature that may be due to fine-grained deposits of ...
Five Snippets of Supernova Science
What's the latest in the field of supernova research? Five recent articles tackle different aspects of these exploding stars. The post Five Snippets of Supernova Science appeared first on AAS ...
Orbital Characterization of Superbolides Observed from Spac...Meteoroid Streams, and Identification of Hyperbolic Meteoroids
Eloy Peña-Asensio et al 2022 AJ 164 76 Analysis of the NASA–Jet Propulsion Laboratory fireball database finds that these exploding meteors often originate from comets and asteroids, and inters...
r-process Viable Outflows are Suppressed in Global Alpha-viscosity Models of Collapsar Disks
O. Just et al 2022 ApJL 934 L30 The first-ever global models of collapsars suggest that the neutron-rich flow necessary for the creation of r-process elements may be short lived, but models with ...
Researchers Find Hot, Dense Water Vapor in a Protoplanetary Disk
Astronomers speculate on the origins of water emission lines in the spectrum of VV Corona Australis A. The post Researchers Find Hot, Dense Water Vapor in a Protoplanetary Disk appeared first ...
The Haunting of Boötes’s Backyard
Astrobites reports on a ghostly stellar stream that haunts the outskirts of the Milky Way. The post The Haunting of Boötes’s Backyard appeared first on AAS Nova .
Reionization in the Light of Dark Stars
Paolo Gondolo et al 2022 ApJ 935 11 If present during the epoch of reionization, dark stars — hypothetical stars powered by the annihilation of dark matter — could provide an explanation for ...
Systematically Measuring Ultra-diffuse Galaxies (SMUDGes). III. The Southern SMUDGes Catalog
Dennis Zaritsky et al 2022 ApJS 261 11 A new catalog of 5,598 ultra-diffuse galaxy candidates, 1,079 of which have distance estimates, enables researchers to compare the characteristics of these ...
Does What a Black Hole Eats Affect Its Appearance?
When supermassive black holes gulp down gas, the superheated gas shines across the electromagnetic spectrum. Could the composition of this gas affect the radiation we observe? The post Does Wha...
First Light (and First Flight) for a New Solar Instrument
The Extreme-ultraviolet Snapshot Imaging Spectrograph (ESIS) may help researchers understand the complex region between the Sun's lower and upper atmosphere. The post First Light (and First Fli...
10 Yr Transformation of the Obscuring Wind in NGC 5548
Missagh Mehdipour et al 2022 ApJL 934 L24 New observations reveal that the highly variable winds arising from the accretion disk at the center of the active galaxy NGC 5548 are linked to the larg...
Discovery of Faint Double-peak Hα Emission in the Halo of Low Redshift Galaxies
J. Sánchez Almeida et al 2022 ApJ 934 100 Accretion disks around rogue intermediate-mass black holes are a potential explanation for the double-peaked hydrogen emission lines observed in gas clo...
Young, Cool, and on Edge: An Unstable Protoplanetary Disk
Astrobites reports on an investigation of a protoplanetary disk that might prove to be one of the youngest disks to exhibit gravitational instability. The post Young, Cool, and on Edge: An Unst...
Determining Which Binary Component Hosts the TESS Transiting Planet
Kathryn V. Lester et al 2022 AJ 164 56 Transit observations can’t say which star in a binary system hosts a transiting exoplanet, but models can help; in one study, 70% of sampled transiting pl...
The Spectral Properties of Pitted Impact Deposits on Vesta as Seen by the Dawn VIR Instrument
T. Michalik et al 2022 Planet. Sci. J. 3 182 Pitted impact deposits within craters are spectrally distinct from those in crater ejecta, potentially due to oxidation processes, meaning that these ...
Through the Looking GLASS with JWST
The deepest extragalactic data from the JWST Early-Release Science program come into focus in research articles published today in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. The post Through the Lookin...
Heliospheric Compression Due to Recent Nearby Supernova Explosions
Jesse A. Miller and Brian D. Fields 2022 ApJ 934 32 Simulations suggest that the inner solar system planets would not be directly exposed to the blast wave of a nearby supernova, suggesting that ...
Featured Image: Navigating Turbulence Around an Active Young Star
Modelers explore how explosions of stellar plasma affect the passage of high-energy particles. The post Featured Image: Navigating Turbulence Around an Active Young Star appeared first on AAS ...
New Life for Lunar Seismic Data
Fifty years ago, planetary scientists curated a trove of seismic data sent back from the Moon. Today, those data are getting another life in a new public archive. The post New Life for Lunar Se...
What Determines Active Region Coronal Plasma Composition?
Teodora Mihailescu et al 2022 ApJ 933 245 Researchers attempt to discern why the plasma of solar active regions has a different composition than the surrounding solar surface, finding that the re...