Telescopes

Artist's concept of the of the exoplanet PSR J2322-2650b and its pulsar (Image NASA, ESA, CSA, Ralf Crawford (STScI))

0

An article published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters reports the results of a study of a gas giant exoplanet cataloged as PSR J2322-2650b, which has a completely abnormal atmosphere composed above all of helium and carbon. A team of researchers used observations conducted with the James Webb Space Telescope to study the atmosphere of this exoplanet, which has a mass similar to Jupiter’s and has a distance from its star that is only one-hundredth of the Earth’s distance from the Sun. The star is a pulsar, adding another unusual element to the system. PSR J2322-2650b can’t be explained by current models of planetary formation.

Galaxy NGC 3621 with the location of supernova SN 2024ggi in the small circle

0

An article published in the journal “Science Advances” reports the first reconstruction ever of the shape of a Type II supernova in its early stages. A team of researchers led by Professor Yi Yang of Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, used observations conducted with ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile to study the supernova cataloged as SN 2024ggi on April 11, 2024, the day after the explosion began.

The 4MOST instrument mounted on the VISTA telescope (Photo AIP/A. Saviauk)

0

On October 18, the 4-meter Multi-Object Spectroscopic Telescope (4MOST), mounted on ESO’s VISTA telescope in Chile, saw its so-called first light in its initial observation tests. With its system made of 2,436 optical fibers, 4MOST can capture light from a field of view with a diameter of up to 2.5 degrees, which in practice translates to an area equivalent to 16 times the size of the full Moon. The light is directed into three spectrographs that divide it into color components in the visible light range, providing individual spectra. This will enable a cosmological survey encompassing 25 million objects in the first five years of its operation.

An optical-frequency image from the Legacy Surveys overlaid with radio emissions from the LoTSS survey, revealing the area of ​​the odd radio circle RAD J131346.9+500320

0

An article published in the journal “Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society” reports the discovery of three odd radio circles, including a pair cataloged as RAD J131346.9+500320. The discovery was made by examining data collected during the LOFAR Two-Metre Sky Survey (LoTSS) thanks to the collaboration of citizen scientists in the RAD@home program. A team of researchers examined these objects, and in particular, what appears to be a pair of intersecting rings, concluding that they’re the most distant discovered so far and that their emissions are the most powerful detected from these still poorly-known cosmic objects.

The Calvera pulsar and the diffuse emission region object of this study, seen in X-rays

0

An article published in the journal “Astronomy & Astrophysics” describes a candidate supernova remnant that was associated with the pulsar nicknamed Calvera. A team of researchers from the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) and the University of Palermo, led by Emanuele Greco of INAF, conducted observations and analyses of a decidedly unusual pair, as finding it approximately 6,500 light-years above the Milky Way’s galactic plane was surprising.