Search Publications
A distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud that is precise to one per cent
Smolec, R.; Kudritzki, R. P.; Bresolin, F. +19 more
In the era of precision cosmology, it is essential to determine the Hubble constant empirically with an accuracy of one per cent or better1. At present, the uncertainty on this constant is dominated by the uncertainty in the calibration of the Cepheid period-luminosity relationship2,3 (also known as the Leavitt law). The Larg…
Absence of a thick atmosphere on the terrestrial exoplanet LHS 3844b
Deming, Drake; Vanderburg, Andrew; Stevenson, Kevin B. +16 more
Most known terrestrial planets orbit small stars with radii less than 60 per cent of that of the Sun1,2. Theoretical models predict that these planets are more vulnerable to atmospheric loss than their counterparts orbiting Sun-like stars3-6. To determine whether a thick atmosphere has survived on a small planet, one approach…
A wide star-black-hole binary system from radial-velocity measurements
Soria, Roberto; Zhao, Gang; Wang, Wei +52 more
All stellar-mass black holes have hitherto been identified by X-rays emitted from gas that is accreting onto the black hole from a companion star. These systems are all binaries with a black-hole mass that is less than 30 times that of the Sun1-4. Theory predicts, however, that X-ray-emitting systems form a minority of the total populat…
Accretion of a giant planet onto a white dwarf star
Gänsicke, Boris T.; Schreiber, Matthias R.; Toloza, Odette +3 more
The detection1 of a dust disk around the white dwarf star G29-38 and transits from debris orbiting the white dwarf WD 1145+017 (ref. 2) confirmed that the photospheric trace metals found in many white dwarfs3 arise from the accretion of tidally disrupted planetesimals4. The composition of these planetesi…
General relativistic orbital decay in a seven-minute-orbital-period eclipsing binary system
Kulkarni, S. R.; Duev, Dmitry A.; Riddle, Reed +23 more
General relativity1 predicts that short-orbital-period binaries emit considerable amounts of gravitational radiation. The upcoming Laser Interferometer Space Antenna2 (LISA) is expected to detect tens of thousands of such systems3 but few have been identified4, of which only one5 is eclipsing—…
Core crystallization and pile-up in the cooling sequence of evolving white dwarfs
Hermes, J. J.; Gänsicke, Boris T.; Gentile Fusillo, Nicola Pietro +7 more
White dwarfs are stellar embers depleted of nuclear energy sources that cool over billions of years1. These stars, which are supported by electron degeneracy pressure, reach densities of 107 grams per cubic centimetre in their cores2. It has been predicted that a first-order phase transition occurs during white-dwa…
A massive white-dwarf merger product before final collapse
Langer, Norbert; Kniazev, Alexei Y.; Gvaramadze, Vasilii V. +4 more
Gravitational-wave emission can lead to the coalescence of close pairs of compact objects orbiting each other1,2. In the case of neutron stars, such mergers may yield masses above the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff limit (2 to 2.7 solar masses)3, leading to the formation of black holes4. For white dwarfs, the mass of t…