Artist's concept of the impact of a dwarf planet on Pluto (Image courtesy University of Bern, Illustration: Thibaut Roger)

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An article published in the journal “Nature Astronomy” offers an explanation for the formation of the large and deep basin known as Sputnik Planitia on Pluto with its characteristic heart shape. A team of scientists coordinated by the Swiss University of Bern created computer simulations that indicate that the depression that is some kilometers deep could have been generated by an impact with an object with a diameter of around 700 kilometers that occurred at an oblique angle and was relatively slow. The results of these simulations also suggest that Pluto likely doesn’t have a subsurface ocean of liquid water, unlike other studies.

The position of the three stellar black holes discovered so far in the Milky Way, represented in projection, thanks to the Gaia mission.

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An article published in the journal “Astronomy and Astrophysics Letters” reports the identification of a stellar black hole with a mass estimated to be approximately 33 times the Sun’s that was cataloged as Gaia BH3. A team of researchers used data collected by ESA’s Gaia space probe to find this black hole in the Milky Way’s halo, less than two thousand light-years from Earth. Its mass is remarkable for a stellar black hole and it has a companion, a very ancient star, as its age is estimated to be around 11 billion years.

Artist's impression of the GRB221009A gamma-ray burst with relativistic jets coming from the black hole at the center (Image courtesy Aaron M. Geller / Northwestern / CIERA / IT Research Computing and Data Services)

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An article published in the journal “Nature Astronomy” reports a study on the gamma-ray burst cataloged as GRB221009A, the brightest ever detected, which confirms that it was caused by the collapse of a massive star, which subsequently exploded in a supernova. A team of researchers led by Northwestern University used data collected with the James Webb Space Telescope and the ALMA radio telescope to obtain the information needed to support their conclusions. The mystery remains of the absence of traces of the generation of heavy elements such as platinum and gold, which they thought could be associated with supernovae that lead to very powerful gamma-ray bursts.

The nebula NGC 6164/6165 surrounding the system HD 148937 as seen by the VLT Survey Telescope (Image ESO/VPHAS+ team. Acknowledgment: CASU)

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An article published in the journal “Science” reports a study on the HD 148937 system, a binary system surrounded by a double nebula known as NGC 6164/6165. A team of researchers used the PIONIER and GRAVITY instruments mounted on ESO’s VLT Interferometer (VLTI) in Chile and archival data from the FEROS instrument at the La Silla Observatory, also an ESO’s telescope in Chile, to collect the data necessary to conclude that it was originally at least a triple system and at some point two of the stars merged. It was a violent event that created the cloud of materials around the system.

The Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft surrounded by the support crew (Image NASA TV)

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A little while ago, cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Marina Vasilevskaya and astronaut Loral O’Hara returned to Earth on the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft, which landed in Kazakhstan. Novitsky completed a one-year mission on the International Space Station, Vasilevskaya was a visitor who stayed on the Station for a few days while O’Hara spent a bit more than 6 months on the Station.