Telescopes

Artist's concept of the exoplanet Wasp-103b and its star (Image ESA)

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An article published in the journal “Astronomy & Astrophysics” reports a study of the exoplanet Wasp-103b that offers evidence of its oval shape. A team of researchers used data collected by ESA’s CHEOPS space telescope to have the accuracy needed to assess this gas giant’s anomalous shape. It’s due to its star’s powerful tidal forces, as the star is a bit larger and more massive than the Sun, on this planet due to their proximity. In fact, Wasp-103b is so close to its star that its year lasts a little less than an Earth day.

Artist's concept of the exoplanet Kepler-1708 b with its moon (Image courtesy Helena Valenzuela Widerström)

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An article published in the journal “Nature Astronomy” reports the discovery of an exomoon candidate that was cataloged as Kepler-1708 b-i. A team of researchers led by David Kipping of Columbia University analyzed data collected by NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope with the specific purpose of looking for possible moons around exoplanets discovered thanks to Kepler. The Jupiter-sized gas giant Kepler-1708 b has a signal indicating the possible presence of a moon that would be a little smaller than the planet Neptune.

Artist's concept of a red supergiant star exploding (Image courtesy W.M. Keck Observatory/Adam Makarenko)

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An article published in “The Astrophysical Journal” reports the observations of the supernova cataloged as SN 2020tlf, the first case in which astronomers observed a red supergiant star in the period immediately preceding the explosion. A team of researchers used the Pan-STARRS telescope in Hawaii to detect the changes taking place in the red supergiant in the summer of 2020 and then used the NIRES and DEIMOS instruments of the Keck Observatory, also in Hawaii, for the first spectrographic detections of the supernova emissions in the fall of 2020. Subsequently, other instruments added data on the supernova. Astronomers expected a red supergiant to go through a quiet period before exploding, but SN 2020tlf’s progenitor emitted strong radiation in the last year of its life.

Illustration of the James Webb Space Telescope (Image NASA GSFC/CIL/Adriana Manrique Gutierrez)

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Yesterday, NASA confirmed the successful completion of the deployment of all components of the James Webb Space Telescope. Launched on December 25, 2021, this next-generation space telescope required several days of complex operations to deploy the various structures that make it up to reach its final configuration. This was a crucial phase that also included risks in the event that one of the systems didn’t work properly. Now the new phase opens with the calibration of the instruments, task-intensive to the point that it will take months before the James Webb can finally begin its scientific mission.

An illustration of the Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds with C-19 on the left side

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An article published in the journal “Nature” reports the discovery of a primordial stellar stream at the edge of the Milky Way cataloged as C-19. A team of researchers used the GRACES instrument on the Gemini North telescope in Hawaii to study this stellar stream discovered in data collected by the Gaia space probe. The stars that are part of C-19 were identified in the Pristine survey as well, which aims to search for stars with the lowest metallicity in the Milky Way with the CFHT (Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope), also at Hawaii. Further data was collected using the Gran Telescopio Canarias in the Canaries. The study’s conclusion is that C-19’s stars were torn from an ancient star cluster when the Milky Way was very young. This new information could help better understand the formation of the first stars.