2025

The Small Magellanic Cloud and the molecular coulds subject of this study

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An article published in “The Astrophysical Journal” reports a study of 17 molecular clouds in the Small Magellanic Cloud, one of the Milky Way’s satellite dwarf galaxies. A team of researchers led by Kazuki Tokuda, a postdoctoral researcher at Kyushu University, Japan, examined high-resolution images captured using the ALMA radio telescope to obtain information on their characteristics. The examination showed that 40% of those clouds had a more diffused gas, with fluffy structures. The others were classic molecular clouds with a filamentary structure that are also found in the Milky Way. This difference was attributed to the scarcity of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium in the Small Magellanic Cloud, a situation similar to that of the early universe.

Mosaic of candidate active galactic nuclei in dwarf galaxie

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An article to be published in “The Astrophysical Journal” reports the discovery of about 2,500 new candidate active galactic nuclei in dwarf galaxies and about 300 new candidate intermediate-mass black holes. A team of researchers examined observations conducted with the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) on the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope in Arizona to find all these possible black holes.

The 3D structure of the atmosphere of the exoplanet Tylos

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Two articles, one published in the journal “Nature” and one in the journal “Astronomy & Astrophysics”, report the results of two studies of the exoplanet WASP-121b, officially named Tylos, which describe different aspects of its very turbulent atmosphere. Two teams of researchers with several members in common used the ESPRESSO instrument mounted on ESO’s VLT (Very Large Telescope) in Chile exploiting the combination of the four telescopes to examine the atmosphere of Tylos during a complete transit in front of its star. The result was a mapping of the layers of the atmosphere and the detection of traces of various chemical elements including sodium, iron, and titanium.

Rho Cassiopeiae (Image courtesy Anugu et al. 2024)

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An article published in the journal “Astronomy & Astrophysics” reports the results of a study on some yellow hypergiants and in particular Rho Cassiopeiae, of which observations are available that go back to 1885. A team of researchers also examined observations of HR 8752, HR 5171A, and HD 179821 with a focus on the outbursts and the resulting variability that characterize yellow hypergiants. This study shows that the pulsations of Rho Cassiopeiae, or simply Rho Cas, become more intense when it approaches an explosive event. 138 years of observations have led to modeling Rho Cas’s behavior and predicting its future.

The RCW 38 cluster in infrared light (Image ESO/VVVX survey)

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ESO has released images of the stellar nursery cataloged as RCW 38, obtained using the VISTA InfraRed CAMera (VIRCAM) mounted on its Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) in Chile. It was obtained as part of the VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea (VVV) astronomical survey, which produced the most detailed infrared map of the Milky Way. The infrared observations allow to see the electromagnetic emissions generated by young stars and protostars within RCW 38, which can pass through the blanket of gas and dust that blocks almost all other electromagnetic bands.