Telescopes

The M82 galaxy in Hubble's view on the left and the area of very intense star formation seen by Webb on the right

0

An article submitted for publication in “The Astrophysical Journal” reports a study of the exceptional rate of star formation in the M82 galaxy. A team of researchers led by Alberto Bolatto of the University of Maryland, College Park, used the James Webb Space Telescope to map powerful galactic winds that expel vast amounts of gas caused by star formation and supernova explosions.

The NIRCam instrument is the one used in particular to trace the origin of that activity back to dense star clusters in the galactic disk. This new study of M82 offers advances in understanding star formation and how this activity is affecting the galaxy.

The area around Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, seen in polarized light

0

Two articles published in “The Astrophysical Journal Letters” report different aspects of a study of Sagittarius A*, or simply Sgr A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, which led to the creation of an image in polarized light of the area around it. The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration used again a combination of various radio telescopes to detect polarized light thanks to the fact that particles rotating around the magnetic field lines determine a polarization pattern perpendicular to it.

A region of a molecular cloud (Image ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, W. Rocha et al. (Leiden University))

0

An article published in the journal “Astronomy & Astrophysics” reports the discovery of various complex organic molecules such as ethanol among the icy materials surrounding two protostars. A team of researchers used the James Webb Space Telescope’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) to identify icy organic compounds around the low-mass protostar NGC 1333 IRAS 2A, or simply IRAS 2A, and the high-mass protostar IRAS 23385+ 6053, or simply IRAS 23385. Various molecules constitute building blocks for Earth-like life forms that could be like “seeds” on planets still in the process of formation.

Some of the systems observed with the VLT and represented here not in scale to appear similar in size

0

Three articles published in the journal “Astronomy & Astrophysics” report different aspects of a large study of 86 protoplanetary disks located in three different regions of the Milky Way. Teams of researchers with several shared members used the SPHERE instrument mounted on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile as part of the GTO and DESTINYS observation programs. The findings offer a treasure trove of information about planetary formation in the cosmic neighborhood that could lead to advances in current models and aid follow-up studies.

Una porzione di cielo fotografata dallo strumento NIRCam del telescopio spaziale James Webb con la galassia GN-z11 nel riquadro

0

Two articles, one published in the journal “Nature” and one accepted for publication in the journal “Astronomy & Astrophysics”, report different aspects of a study of the galaxy GN-z11, one of the most distant known, which revealed the presence of the most distant and ancient black hole found so far. A team of researchers led by Roberto Maiolino of the University of Cambridge used the James Webb Space Telescope to examine GN-z11 finding traces of the activity of the supermassive black hole at its center. Those traces indicate that it’s devouring surrounding materials at a remarkable speed. Spectroscopic analyzes showed the presence of a clump of helium in the halo surrounding GN-z11 and no heavy elements, suggesting that first-generation stars may form in that halo.