ESO

Possible moons in formation around the exoplanet PDS 70 c

1

An article published in the journal “The Astrophysical Journal Letters” reports the observation of what is interpreted as a circumplanetary disk in the system of the young star PDS 70. A team of researchers led by Andrea Isella of Rice University in Houston, Texas, used the ALMA radio telescope to detect the emissions of that disk that surrounds the exoplanet PDS 70 c and according to the astronomers is of the type that controls the formation of planets and of a system of moons such as those around the planet Jupiter.

The asteroid 1999 KW4 photographed by the SPHERE instrument

0

ESO has published photos of the asteroid 1999 KW4 taken using the SPHERE instrument mounted on the VLT in Chile. This is part of a campaign of observations coordinated by the International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN), which followed the UN recommendations to set up the control of potentially dangerous asteroids. 1999 KW4 passed 5.2 million kilometers from the Earth on May 25, 2019, an absolutely safe distance but it was a good opportunity to assess the possibility of keeping an eye on the trajectory of what’s actually a double asteroid even using an instrument designed to photograph exoplanets.

Artist's concept of the exoplanet HR 8799 e (Image ESO/L. Calçada)

0

An article published in the journal “Astronomy and Astrophysics” reports the first direct observation of an exoplanet using the technique of optical interferometry. The GRAVITY collaboration, so called because the researchers who belong to it manage the work of the instrument with the same name installed on ESO’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI), observed the exoplanet HR 8799 e, a super-Jupiter that has a atmosphere containing clouds rich in iron and silicates that swirl around in a storm that crosses the entire planet.

The planetary nebula ESO 577-24 seen in all its beauty by the Very Large Telescope

0

ESO has published a new image of the planetary nebula ESO 577-24 captured by its Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile thanks to its FORS2 instrument, which for almost twenty years has been capturing some of the best astronomical images obtained by the VLT. ESO 577-24 represents the final phase of the life of the star at its center, cataloged as Abell 36, in astronomical terms an instant of agony since its duration is estimated around 10,000 Earth years.

R Aquarii (Image ESO/Schmid et al.)

0

An article published in the journal “Astronomy & Astrophysics” describes a new observation of the R Aquarii binary system, consisting of a red giant of the type called Mira variable and a white dwarf. A team of researchers used that pair of stars as a target for a test of a new subsystem of the SPHERE instrument mounted on ESO’s VLT obtaining the clearest image captured so far of the turbulence existing in the system due to the fact that the white dwarf is stealing gas from its companion, worsening its agony.