Search Publications
A planetary collision afterglow and transit of the resultant debris cloud
Mamajek, Eric; Kirkpatrick, J. Davy; Sainio, Arttu +19 more
Planets grow in rotating disks of dust and gas around forming stars, some of which can subsequently collide in giant impacts after the gas component is removed from the disk1-3. Monitoring programmes with the warm Spitzer mission have recorded substantial and rapid changes in mid-infrared output for several stars, interpreted as variati…
The high optical brightness of the BlueWalker 3 satellite
Bannister, Michele T.; Bassa, Cees; Damke, Guillermo +37 more
Large constellations of bright artificial satellites in low Earth orbit pose significant challenges to ground-based astronomy1. Current orbiting constellation satellites have brightnesses between apparent magnitudes 4 and 6, whereas in the near-infrared Ks band, they can reach magnitude 2 (ref. 2). Satellite operators, astron…
Compact [C II] emitters around a C IV absorption complex at redshift 5.7
Simcoe, Robert A.; Kashino, Daichi; Eilers, Anna-Christina +4 more
The physical conditions of the circumgalactic medium are investigated by means of intervening absorption-line systems in the spectrum of background quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) out to the epoch of cosmic reionization1-4. A correlation between the ionization state of the absorbing gas and the nature of the nearby galaxies has been sugges…
A helium-burning white dwarf binary as a supersoft X-ray source
Burgess, J. M.; Werner, K.; Haberl, F. +12 more
Type Ia supernovae are cosmic distance indicators1,2, and the main source of iron in the Universe3,4, but their formation paths are still debated. Several dozen supersoft X-ray sources, in which a white dwarf accretes hydrogen-rich matter from a non-degenerate donor star, have been observed5 and suggested as Type I…
A kilonova following a long-duration gamma-ray burst at 350 Mpc
Kilpatrick, Charles D.; Izzo, Luca; Smith, Nathan +32 more
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are divided into two populations1,2; long GRBs that derive from the core collapse of massive stars (for example, ref. 3) and short GRBs that form in the merger of two compact objects4,5. Although it is common to divide the two populations at a gamma-ray duration of 2 s, classification based …
A repeating fast radio burst source in a globular cluster
Lindqvist, M.; Lazio, T. J. W.; Ransom, S. M. +63 more
Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are flashes of unknown physical origin1. The majority of FRBs have been seen only once, although some are known to generate multiple flashes2,3. Many models invoke magnetically powered neutron stars (magnetars) as the source of the emission4,5. Recently, the discovery6 of another…
A nearby long gamma-ray burst from a merger of compact objects
Troja, E.; Wollaeger, R. T.; Butler, N. R. +21 more
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are flashes of high-energy radiation arising from energetic cosmic explosions. Bursts of long (greater than two seconds) duration are produced by the core-collapse of massive stars1, and those of short (less than two seconds) duration by the merger of compact objects, such as two neutron stars2. A thir…
A time-resolved picture of our Milky Way's early formation history
Xiang, Maosheng; Rix, Hans-Walter
The formation of our Milky Way can be split up qualitatively into different phases that resulted in its structurally different stellar populations: the halo and the disk components1-3. Revealing a quantitative overall picture of our Galaxy's assembly requires a large sample of stars with very precise ages. Here we report an analysis of …
Star formation near the Sun is driven by expansion of the Local Bubble
Alves, João; Speagle, Joshua S.; Zucker, Catherine +8 more
For decades we have known that the Sun lies within the Local Bubble, a cavity of low-density, high-temperature plasma surrounded by a shell of cold, neutral gas and dust1-3. However, the precise shape and extent of this shell4,5, the impetus and timescale for its formation6,7, and its relationship to nearby star fo…
A highly magnified star at redshift 6.2
Mahler, Guillaume; Anderson, Jay; Broadhurst, Tom +26 more
Galaxy clusters magnify background objects through strong gravitational lensing. Typical magnifications for lensed galaxies are factors of a few but can also be as high as tens or hundreds, stretching galaxies into giant arcs1,2. Individual stars can attain even higher magnifications given fortuitous alignment with the lensing cluster. …