Stars

Artist's concept of the exoplanet TOI-3261 b being struck by stellar wind (Image NASA/JPL-Caltech/K. Miller (Caltech/IPAC))

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An article published in “The Astronomical Journal” reports the identification of the exoplanet TOI-3261 b, an ultrahot Neptune very close to its star, one of the very few planets of that type known. A team of researchers used observations conducted with NASA’s TESS space telescope and detections obtained with the ESPRESSO and HARPS instruments to confirm its existence and obtain information on its characteristics. TOI-3261 b orbits in what is known as the Neptune desert precisely because it’s in an area where it’s very rare to find Neptune-type planets. For this reason, it will help to understand the evolution of certain types of planets.

The WOH G64 star seen from the VLTI (ESO Image/K. Ohnaka et al.)

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An article published in the journal “Astronomy & Astrophysics” reports the creation of a detailed image of the red supergiant star WOH G64 and its surroundings, the first ever obtained of a star outside the Milky Way. A team of researchers led by astrophysicist Keiichi Ohnaka of the Universidad Andrés Bello, Chile, used the GRAVITY instrument on ESO’s VLTI in Chile to obtain details of this star in the Large Magellanic Cloud. This study may provide important insights into a star that is going through the death throes that will end with its explosion as a supernova. A dust cocoon and a possible torus surrounding WOH G64 show signs of that death throes.

The galaxy NGC 1386

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An article published in the journal “Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society” reports a study of the galaxy NGC 1386 that shows that star formation processes are taking place in its central regions despite the fact that it contains mostly old stars. A team of researchers led by astronomer Almudena Prieto of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias in Spain combined observations conducted in visible light and near-infrared with ESO’s VST and in radio waves with the ALMA radio telescope to study those processes that are bringing about a sort of rejuvenation within NGC 1386.

The star cluster NGC 602 (Image ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, P. Zeidler, E. Sabbi, A. Nota, M. Zamani (ESA/Webb))

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An article published in “The Astrophysical Journal” reports the identification of 64 brown dwarf candidates in the star cluster NGC 602 in the Small Magellanic Cloud, one of the Milky Way’s satellite galaxies. A team of researchers used the James Webb Space Telescope to obtain the sensitivity and resolution needed to detect possible objects halfway between the planet and the star about 200,000 light-years away. Follow-up studies are needed to verify these candidates, the first brown dwarfs to be verified outside the Milky Way. NGC 602 is poor in elements heavier than hydrogen and helium, a condition that was normal when the universe was young, further reason for interest in studying the processes within the cluster.

Artist's illustration of Gliese 229 Ba and Gliese 229 Bb with Gliese 229 A (Image courtesy K. Miller, R. Hurt (Caltech/IPAC))

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Two articles, one published in the journal “Nature” and one in “The Astrophysical Journal Letters”, report the results of two independent studies on Gliese 229 B, the first brown dwarf whose existence was confirmed, which conclude that it’s actually a pair of close brown dwarfs. A team led by Caltech researcher Jerry Xuan used the GRAVITY and CRIRES+ instruments mounted on ESO’s VLT in Chile while a team led by Sam Whitebook, also from Caltech, and Tim Brandt of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, used the NIRSPEC instrument installed at the Keck Observatory in Hawaii. There were already suspicions about the nature of Gliese 229 B due to some inconsistencies detected in its characteristics but only now was it possible to find the evidence.