January 2022

Jupiter's North Pole with eight cyclones surrounding a central cyclone

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An article published in the journal “Nature Physics” describes similarities between the cyclones present at the planet Jupiter’s poles and the vortices existing in the Earth’s oceans. A team of researchers used images captured by NASA’s Juno space probe of Jupiter cyclones to study them, compare them with similar ocean phenomena, and describe them by applying geophysical fluid dynamics. The conclusion is that Jupiter cyclones are also produced and continue their existence thanks to convection phenomena that lead masses of hot gas to rise and then cool down and descend again into the deeper layers of the Jovian atmosphere.

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.

The Flame Nebula with the NGC 2023 nebula on the right (Image ESO/Th. Stanke)

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An article accepted for publication in the journal “Astronomy & Astrophysics” reports an overview of the first results of an astronomical survey called ALCOHOLS concerning the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex. For the occasion, ESO released images of the Orion Flame Nebula, one of the star formation areas within that complex. Researchers led by former ESO astronomer Thomas Stanke used the SuperCam instrument mounted on the APEX radio telescope to map the presence of carbon monoxide in that area. Despite its name and what it looks like in the images, the Flame Nebula is very cold, with temperatures generally just a few degrees above absolute zero.