Search Publications
High molecular gas fractions in normal massive star-forming galaxies in the young Universe
Lutz, D.; Förster Schreiber, N. M.; Genzel, R. +19 more
Stars form from cold molecular interstellar gas. As this is relatively rare in the local Universe, galaxies like the Milky Way form only a few new stars per year. Typical massive galaxies in the distant Universe formed stars an order of magnitude more rapidly. Unless star formation was significantly more efficient, this difference suggests that yo…
A white dwarf cooling age of 8Gyr for NGC 6791 from physical separation processes
Salaris, Maurizio; Córsico, Alejandro H.; Althaus, Leandro G. +6 more
NGC 6791 is a well studied open cluster that it is so close to us that can be imaged down to very faint luminosities. The main-sequence turn-off age (~8Gyr) and the age derived from the termination of the white dwarf cooling sequence (~6Gyr) are very different. One possible explanation is that as white dwarfs cool, one of the ashes of helium burni…
Possible thermochemical disequilibrium in the atmosphere of the exoplanet GJ 436b
Deming, Drake; Madhusudhan, Nikku; Stevenson, Kevin B. +7 more
The nearby extrasolar planet GJ 436b-which has been labelled as a `hot Neptune'-reveals itself by the dimming of light as it crosses in front of and behind its parent star as seen from Earth. Respectively known as the primary transit and secondary eclipse, the former constrains the planet's radius and mass, and the latter constrains the planet's t…
A ground-based near-infrared emission spectrum of the exoplanet HD189733b
Henning, Thomas; Bouwman, Jeroen; Griffith, Caitlin A. +9 more
Detection of molecules using infrared spectroscopy probes the conditions and compositions of exoplanet atmospheres. Water (H2O), methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2), and carbon monoxide (CO) have been detected in two hot Jupiters. These previous results relied on space-based telescopes that do not provide spectrosc…
A recent disruption of the main-belt asteroid P/2010A2
Mutchler, Max; Jewitt, David; Agarwal, Jessica +2 more
Most inner main-belt asteroids are primitive rock and metal bodies in orbit about the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. Disruption, through high-velocity collisions or rotational spin-up, is believed to be the primary mechanism for the production and destruction of small asteroids and a contributor to dust in the Sun's zodiacal cloud, while analogous …
An image of an exoplanet separated by two diffraction beamwidths from a star
Mawet, D.; Serabyn, E.; Burruss, R.
Three exoplanets around the star HR8799 have recently been discovered by means of differential imaging with large telescopes. Bright scattered starlight limits high-contrast imaging to large angular offsets, currently of the order of ten diffraction beamwidths, 10λ/D, of the star (where λ is the wavelength and D is the aperture diameter). Imaging …
Spectroscopic confirmation of a galaxy at redshift z = 8.6
Swinbank, A. M.; Bremer, M. N.; Evans, C. J. +6 more
Galaxies had their most significant impact on the Universe when they assembled their first generations of stars. Energetic photons emitted by young, massive stars in primeval galaxies ionized the intergalactic medium surrounding their host galaxies, cleared sightlines along which the light of the young galaxies could escape, and fundamentally alte…