An article published in “Astrophysical Journal” describes the study of a brown dwarf that orbits a K-type star that was possible thanks to a gravitational microlensing event. An international team of astronomers used NASA’s Swift and Spitzer space telescopes to take advantage of that event, cataloged as OGLE-2015-BLG-1319, at a distance from its star that at which few of those objects were found, hence the name brown dwarf desert.
Three articles accepted for publication in the journal “Astronomy and Astrophysics” describe as many research on star systems in formation. The research were conducted by different teams of astronomers but have in common the use of the SPHERE instrument mounted on ESO’s VLT (Very Large Telescope), which revealed details never seen before of protoplanetary discs around the young stars RX J1615, HD 97048 and HD 135344B.
An article published in “Astrophysical Journal” describes a research about the eye-shape galaxy IC 2163, due to a collision with another galaxy called NGC 2207. A team of researchers led by astronomer Michele Kaufman used the ALMA radio telescope to study this kind of tsunami of stars and gas that took on a very rare form among the known galaxies.
An article published in the “Astrophysical Journal” describes the discovery of the remnants of a galaxy of which only a small core remained after passing through a larger galaxy. A team of astronomers used the VLBA radio telescope to find this unique object cataloged as B3 1715+425 with a diameter that is now only 3,000 light-years and a supermassive black hole at its center.
An article accepted for publication in the journal “Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society” describes a research on the large columnar structures in the Carina Nebula. A team led by Anna McLeod, a PhD student at ESO, used the MUSE instrument installed on ESO’s VLT (Very Large Telescope) to examine these structures that have been nicknamed “pillars of destruction” for certain similarities with the “Pillars of Creation” photographed by the Hubble space telescope.
