September 2019

Life's building blocks can be formed from free radicals generated in space

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An article published in the journal “Nature Communications” reports the discovery of a new method to form the organic compounds of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) group in space. A team of researchers at the Berkeley National Laboratory found what in jargon is called a pathway to get to the formation of PAHs such as naphthalene from simpler molecules. These compounds are important in the formation of amino acids, the building blocks of large biological molecules.

The star GJ 1061 (Image courtesy Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg / SIMBAD / SDSS)

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An article being published in the journal “Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society” reports the discovery of three super-Earths in the system of the red dwarf star GJ 1061. A team of astronomers from the Red Dots collaboration made this discovery during the 2018 observation campaign thanks to a series of spectroscopic detections obtained over three months using the radial velocity method. The masses of these exoplanets are a bit higher than the Earth’s and the outermost is in ​​its system’s habitable zone, where it receives an amount of energy from its star close to what the Earth receives from the Sun.

The vibrations of Saturn's rings used to reconstruct the impacts on the planet

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An article published in “The Astrophysical Journal” reports a research on variations in the gravitational field of the planet Saturn due to internal vibrations. Yanqin Wu of the University of Toronto and Yoram Lithwick of Northwestern University used data collected by the Cassini space probe during its ring flybys to study the phenomenon, concluding that Saturn’s vibrations were caused by past impacts that made the planet sort of ring like a bell.

Artist's concept of an exo-Io orbiting a hot Jupiter (Image courtesy University of Bern. Illustration Thibaut Roger)

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An article accepted for publication in “The Astrophysical Journal” reports on traces of sodium and potassium in the orbit of the gas giant exoplanet WASP-49b. A team of researchers coordinated by the Swiss University of Bern compared the situation of WASP-49b to Jupiter and its moon Io, known for its remarkable volcanic activity, noting that there are important clues to the fact that WASP-49b also has a volcanic moon with an activity that includes the ejection of sodium and potassium.