Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
New hydrodynamical models are used to fit the Fermi-LAT data of the Galactic centre and show that the excess γ-ray emission of the region is better fitted by a non-spherical shape, indicating that it is not caused by dark-matter-related phenomena.
Laboratory analyses on six carbonaceous chondrites suggest the presence of two water sources with different deuterium (D) enrichment levels in the protoplanetary disk: a D-poor inner reservoir and a D-rich water component transferred inward from the outer disk.
Pyrene, a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon composed of four fused benzene rings, is putatively a key molecule in the formation of 2D carbonaceous structures. Using experimental and computational techniques, Zhao et al. show that pyrene can form in circumstellar conditions.
Laboratory experiments explore aerosol formation at conditions that can be found on planets with radii between Earth and Neptune that do not exist in the Solar System but are common elsewhere. Photochemically generated hazes are produced in most cases.
This paper puts into question the standard scenario of a primordial formation for bilobate comets. The authors show that bilobate comets can retain their properties even if they form through collisions of larger bodies, which can happen at any time.
The power source of ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) is still debated. A detection of an absorption line at 4.5 keV in the Chandra spectrum of a ULX supports the scenario of a strongly magnetized neutron star accreting at super-Eddington rates.
Sloshing cold fronts in galaxy clusters—sharp jumps in density and temperature—retain a long-lived history of the motion of the cluster core. Chandra observations show that the cold front in Perseus is extremely sharp and is split into two edges.
A model for the non-thermal emission of pulsars can fit their γ- and X-ray spectra using just four physical parameters. The model explains several spectral features, and can be used to predict the detectability of pulsars in X-rays given the γ-ray emission, and vice versa.
The brightness variations of the interstellar object 1I/’Oumuamua observed during six nights are incompatible with a unique rotation rate, indicating that the body is tumbling. Colour measurements suggest a heterogeneous surface, with a large red region.
Hubble observations of the TRAPPIST-1 system exclude the presence of H2-dominated cloud-free atmospheres for the three planets within or around the system’s habitable zone. This result supports the hypothesis that these planets are terrestrial in nature.
The efficiency of the chemical desorption caused by the reactions between H2S, HS and H on an icy grain surface analogue has been quantified by means of in situ infrared measurements of the surface, providing valuable information for understanding non-thermal desorption processes.
A geochemical model for the state of early Mars suggests that short-term warm events grafted onto a generally cold climate could form Al-rich phyllosilicates in short-lived surface water bodies and Mg-rich ones in hydrothermal subsurface environments.
Methanol maser lines are key tracers of the magnetic field strength in high-mass star-forming regions. Here the authors model the magnetic properties of methanol in detail, including the hyperfine structure arising from its internal rotation.
Mars Climate Sounder’s multi-annual observations of the vertical distribution of water and dust in the Martian atmosphere show that deep convection from dust storms transports water from the lower to the middle atmosphere, enhancing water loss to space.
Global circulation theory predicts strong equatorial jets at the equators of hot gas giant exoplanets that blow hot gas to the east, resulting in an eastward hotspot. Here, Dang et al. present a detection of a hotspot significantly offset to the west.
A sample of quiescent early-type galaxies (ETGs) — home to most of the stars in the local Universe — at z ~ 1.8 contain two orders of magnitude more dust at a fixed stellar mass than local ETGs. This implies a higher gas content, at odds with the idea that star formation at this redshift is quenched by gas removal.
An M = −14 r-band magnitude cutoff for satellite galaxies around isolated massive early-type galaxies indicates that the luminosity function of these satellite galaxies is largely determined by their interaction with their host’s environment.
The distribution of circularity of stellar orbits within 300 galaxies of the present-day Universe, with masses between 108.7 and 1011.9M⊙, is directly observed by the CALIFA survey and provides a benchmark for galaxy simulations.
