Astronomy / Astrophysics

Artist's concept of PSR J2215+5135 irradiating its companion (Image courtesy G. Pérez-Díaz/IAC)

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An article published in “The Astrophysical Journal” describes the study of a pulsar cataloged as PSR J2215+5135 which is extreme even for this category of objects. A team of researchers from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) and the Canary Islands Institute of Astrophysics (IAC) used an innovative method to measure the mass of one of the most massive neutron stars discovered, estimated in 2.3 times the Sun’s. This is a method that can also be used with other objects.

The center of the galaxy NGC 5643 (Image ESO/A. Alonso-Herrero et al.; ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO))

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An image published by ESO and ALMA collaboration shows the center of the galaxy NGC 5643 obtained by combining observations made with the ALMA radio telescope with archive data of the MUSE instrument, mounted on ESO’s VLT. In this way it was possible to see beyond the clouds of dust and gas that obscure it even though it’s an active galactic nucleus with strong electromagnetic emissions generated by the activity of the supermassive black hole at the center of NGC 5643.

Sputnik Planitia

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An article published in the journal “Icarus” describes a research that offers an explanation for the formation of the dwarf planet Pluto. A team of scientists from the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) put together data collected by NASA’s New Horizons space probe and data collected by ESA’s Rosetta space probe, which studied comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, concluding that Pluto formed by the union of about a billion comets similar to it.

Illustration of PSR B1957+20 and its companion

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An article published in the journal “Nature” describes a high resolution observation of a pulsar cataloged as PSR B1957+20. A team of astronomers used data collected using the Arecibo radio telescope, obtaining one of the best results in the history of astronomy thanks to the presence of a trail of plasma left by a brown dwarf, a companion of the pulsar in a binary system. According to the astronomers, the lens effect generated suggests that it’s also the cause of fast radio bursts.

2015 BZ509

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An article published in the journal “Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters” reports the discovery of an asteroid in an orbit near Jupiter’s which has a retrograde orbit, which means that it moves in the opposite direction of the solar system’s planets and most of its celestial bodies. Cataloged as 2015 BZ509, it was discovered in 2014 and the analysis of its orbit with a series of simulations led to the conclusion that it came from another solar system.