Astronomy / Astrophysics

CK Vulpeculae seen with Gemini North (Image International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA. Image processing: Travis Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage), Jen Miller (Gemini Observatory/NSF's NOIRLab), Mahdi Zamani & Davide de Martin)

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An article to be published in the “Astrophysical Journal Letters” reports a research on CK Vulpeculae (CK Vul), what was considered a well documented nova having been described between 1670 and 1672, also for the bipolar nebula that left and was recently studied. A team of astronomers led by Dipankar Banerjee, Tom Geballe, and Nye Evans used the GNIRS spectrograph mounted on the Gemini North telescope to obtain measurements that led to the conclusion that CK Vulpeculae is about 10,000 light-years away from Earth, five times as far as previously estimated, and that the explosion was more powerful than a nova but not at the levels of a supernova.

Chaotic terrain in Mars Pyrrhae Regio seen by Mars Express

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ESA has released new images captured by its Mars Express space probe’s High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) in Pyrrhae Regio, a region close to the Valles Marineris system on planet Mars. This is what is called chaotic terrain of the kind that forms when there’s underground ice that melts causing large amounts of water to be released. Such a process requires a significant amount of heat, which may have been provided by volcanic activity or a meteor impact. The current look is what is left after the water drained away, leaving in particular the geological formations called mesas.

A hyperluminous galaxy seen by Hubble (Image ESA/Hubble)

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An article published in the journal “Astronomy & Astrophysics” reports a study on hyperluminous galaxies. A team of researchers led by Lingyu Wang of the Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Utrecht, used the LOFAR radio telescope to assess the amount of hyperluminous galaxies in infrared and concluded that it’s ten times higher than what stars can produce according to current models. If the models are correct, it means that in many galaxies there are other light sources such as an active galactic nucleus powered by a supermassive black hole surrounded by large amounts of materials heated to the point of generating electromagnetic emissions.

An artistic illustration of a short gamma-ray burst such as GRB 200522A

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An article published in “The Astrophysical Journal” reports a study on the kilonova observed on May 22, 2020, and its consequences. It was the merger between two neutron stars that generated a short gamma-ray burst cataloged as GRB 200522A and as a result, produced what from the first analyzes appears to be a magnetar, still a neutron star but of the type characterized by an extremely powerful magnetic field. A team of researchers led by astronomer Wen-fai Fong of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, USA, considered various possible explanations for the observed event, which had an exceptional brightness, and a kilonova that produced a magnetar was the most likely explanation.

A depiction of water in Mars' atmosphere with peaks during periods of both regional and global dust storms

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An article published in the journal “Science” reports a study that explains where most of the water that the planet Mars possessed when it was young, when it was in the liquid state on its surface, has gone. A team of researchers led by Shane Stone of the University of Arizona, USA, used data collected by NASA’s MAVEN space probe to track the movements of water in the atmosphere, up to high altitudes, where there are reactions that break it down and produce atomic hydrogen that is dispersed in space. This study highlighted the role of dust storms in water loss.