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A recent supernova event, SN2016aps, must have involved an extremely energetic explosion and a very massive star, potentially indicating a pair-instability supernova or pulsational pair-instability supernova mechanism.
Simultaneous optical and gamma-ray observations of nova V906 Carinae reveal correlated flares in both wavelength ranges that can be linked to shocks in the nova ejecta. Weak X-ray emission suggests that the shocks are deeply embedded, but they contribute substantially to the luminosity of the nova.
The exoplanet atmospheres we study may not be primary atmospheres. Models show that the accretion of gas late in a planetary system’s formation may completely replace the primary atmospheres of terrestrial planets. These secondary atmospheres are likely to have high metallicities and high C/O ratios.
The complete latitudinal coverage of Saturn’s thermospheric temperatures from Cassini Grand Finale data shows a more uniform spatial behaviour than model predictions, indicating an efficient redistribution of auroral energy from the poles towards the equator that could contribute to solving the giant planet’s energy crisis puzzle.
It is difficult to reproduce the formation and composition of the moons of Uranus with a standard giant-impact model. Observations and modelling can be reconciled if the evolution of the water content in the disk, which is assumed to be vaporized and thus mostly accretes onto the planet before recondensation, is considered.
Cataclysmic variables—a binary pairing of a white dwarf and a hydrogen-rich donor star—experience mass transfer and other complex interactions. This numerical simulation by Hillman et al. models in particular the feedback between the stellar pair, and succeeds in reproducing many of the observed characteristics of cataclysmic variables.
The abundances of isotopes in presolar grains are presumed to reflect their nucleosynthetic generation in stars. However, here Robert et al. report experimentally detected evidence of mass-independent fractionation of titanium, implying that titanium isotopic abundances in presolar grains may not be as representative as once thought.
The gas kinematics within a Lyman-α blob show clear evidence of infall, consistent with the release of gravitational accretion energy as cold streams radiate Lyman-α photons. These cold streams are apparently responsible for feeding central galaxies.
Uniform analysis of both main-sequence and evolved, post-main-sequence stars shows that a common, turbulence-dependent, dynamo mechanism operates throughout these stages of stellar evolution.
2M1510 is an approximately 45-million-year-old triple system of brown dwarfs, two of which form a close binary in a 20-day orbit and have almost the same mass (3.82% and 3.75% of the mass of the Sun, respectively). Their physical parameters are in good agreement with evolutionary models except for luminosity, suggesting that we might be underestimating the masses of brown dwarfs and massive exoplanets by about 30%.
A massive white dwarf (WD) with unusually low hydrogen and helium abundances, undetectable oxygen and high C/H poses a challenge to single-star evolution models. However, this object fits with expectations of a WD–WD merger product.
Our Galaxy’s disk is warped, and that warp is dynamic. Here, Poggio et al. measure the rate of precession of the Galaxy’s warp using a large sample of giant stars. Rather than primordial, the rate of precession indicates that the Milky Way acquired its warp during a recent or even ongoing encounter with another galaxy.
Low-frequency radio emission from a normally quiescent M dwarf star suggests a radio aurora generated by the interaction between the stellar corona and an undetected Earth-sized planet.
Using two independent laser frequency combs to calibrate an astronomical spectrometer, researchers demonstrate a stability of ~1 cm s–1, which is required for detecting low-mass rocky exoplanets around Sun-like stars.
High-resolution observations of the third largest asteroid, (2) Pallas, from SPHERE unveil a heavily cratered surface, probably due to Pallas’s inclined and eccentric orbit, a density almost equal to carbonaceous chondrites and hint at surficial salt-enriched spots.
Sporadic E layers are unpredictable terrestrial ionospheric phenomena that can perturb telecommunication. Plasma features akin to sporadic E layers and their opposite (sporadic E rifts), never observed on Earth, were detected in the ionosphere of Mars from MAVEN data. In contrast to those observed on Earth, they are long lived and form at predictable locations.
Keen observations of the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant have identified a circumstellar clump that lies outside the supernova shock front. This unprocessed material from the supernova progenitor contains iron in the gas phase, and is consistent with an origin within a blue supergiant star.
Relativistic modelling of long X-ray observations of a highly variable active galaxy reveals that the height of its X-ray corona increases with increasing luminosity. X-ray reverberation is shown to be a powerful technique to measure black hole masses.
A ring of maser emission seemingly expanding at 0.05 c is actually tracing the propagation of heat through the circumstellar medium around a high-mass protostar rather than subluminal motion. The heatwave is a manifestation of an accretion burst.
A joint analysis of spectroastrometry and reverberation mapping observations independently measures the distance to the active galaxy nucleus 3C 273 and the value of H0. Future observations of about 30 such sources will measure H0 to less than 3% precision.
