Telescopes

Artist's impression of a binary system containing a spider pulsar (Image NASA/Sonoma State University, Aurore Simonnet)

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An article published in the journal “Nature Astronomy” reports the detection of gamma-ray eclipses in binary systems formed by a normal star or a brown dwarf that have a pulsar as a companion that is defined as a spider pulsar because they steal gas from the companion behaving like a black widow. A team of researchers used data collected over a decade by NASA’s Fermi Space Telescope to find cases in which the star passes in front of the pulsar. Seven binaries have been identified with a spider pulsar being eclipsed by its companion. This identification made it possible to measure the pulsar’s mass, a result useful to conduct tests on the theory of relativity and understand the behavior of matter in extreme conditions.

The occultation light curve of the background star caused by the passage of asteroid Chariklo captured by the James Webb Space Telescope's Near-infrared Camera (NIRCam) instrument

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A stellar occultation that took place on October 18, 2022, made it possible to study asteroid Chariklo observing its rings as well, a truly peculiar feature for such a small object. A team of researchers used the James Webb Space Telescope to capture Chariklo’s passage in front of a star from Webb’s point of view. The NIRCam and NIRSpec instruments enabled images and spectrographic features of Chariklo to be obtained. In recent days, the NIRISS instrument had a software problem that blocked the transmission of the collected data but no hardware failures were found, therefore it’s possible that the data will be recovered later to complete an in-depth study of this asteroid.

The map of the polarized microwave emission measured by the QUIJOTE experiment

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Six articles published in the journal “Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society” report various aspects of the most accurate mapping of the polarization of the Milky Way’s microwave emissions. This provides a map of the galactic magnetic field thanks to the QUIJOTE (Q-U-I JOint TEnerife) experiment. The QUIJOTE Collaboration presented what is only the initial set of scientific papers in a survey that complements the ones obtained from other missions such as the one from the Planck Surveyor satellite. These results are useful to obtain new information on the structure of the Milky Way’s magnetic field and to understand the energetic processes that occurred soon after the birth of the universe.

A mosaic of 690 frames obtained with Webb's Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) instrument which constitutes one of the first images of the CEERS survey and shows in the insets some examples of primordial galaxies

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An article accepted for publication in “The Astrophysical Journal” reports the results of a study of the structure and morphology of galaxies that existed in the first three billion years of life of the universe. A team of researchers used observations conducted with the James Webb Space Telescope as part of the CEERS survey to obtain enough detail to understand what primordial galaxies were like. The conclusion is a confirmation of previous research regarding the remarkable variety of shapes and structures and turned out even superior thanks to Webb. In many of them, the structures are already quite evolved, as in closer and younger galaxies.

Radar image of Tycho Crater on the Moon (Image NRAO/AUI/NSF)

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A new image of Tycho’s crater on the Moon is the most detailed yet captured from Earth. A collaboration between Green Bank Observatory (GBO), National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), Raytheon Intelligence & Space (RI&S), and Green Bank Telescope (GBT) produced the image thanks to a new radar technology that greatly improved astronomical applications of radars. Images of the lunar surface are just the beginning because other objects can be examined to create far more detailed images than radars could before. This result can be achieved with low-power radar transmitters.