Search Publications
A strangely light neutron star within a supernova remnant
Doroshenko, Victor; Santangelo, Andrea; Pühlhofer, Gerd +1 more
To constrain the equation of state of cold dense matter, astrophysical measurements are essential. These are mostly based on observations of neutron stars in the X-ray band, and, more recently, also on gravitational wave observations. Of particular interest are observations of unusually heavy or light neutron stars which extend the range of centra…
Images of embedded Jovian planet formation at a wide separation around AB Aurigae
Currie, Thayne; Schneider, Glenn; Dong, Ruobing +30 more
Direct images of protoplanets embedded in disks around infant stars provide the key to understanding the formation of gas giant planets such as Jupiter. Using the Subaru Telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope, we find evidence for a Jovian protoplanet around AB Aurigae orbiting at a wide projected separation (~93 au), probably responsible for mu…
Discovery of a radio-emitting neutron star with an ultra-long spin period of 76 s
Buckley, David; Heywood, Ian; Brink, Jaco +19 more
The radio-emitting neutron star population encompasses objects with spin periods ranging from milliseconds to tens of seconds. As they age and spin more slowly, their radio emission is expected to cease. We present the discovery of an ultra-long-period radio-emitting neutron star, PSR J0901-4046, with spin properties distinct from the known spin- …
A rich population of free-floating planets in the Upper Scorpius young stellar association
Tamura, Motohide; Cuillandre, Jean-Charles; Bertin, Emmanuel +9 more
The nature and origin of free-floating planets (FFPs) are still largely unconstrained because of a lack of large homogeneous samples to enable a statistical analysis of their properties. So far, most FFPs have been discovered using indirect methods; microlensing surveys have proved particularly successful to detect these objects down to a few Eart…
An exomoon survey of 70 cool giant exoplanets and the new candidate Kepler-1708 b-i
Bryson, Steve; Kipping, David; Szulágyi, Judit +6 more
Exomoons represent a crucial missing puzzle piece in our efforts to understand extrasolar planetary systems. To address this deficiency, we here describe an exomoon survey of 70 cool, giant transiting exoplanet candidates found by Kepler. We identify only one exhibiting a moon-like signal that passes a battery of vetting tests: Kepler-1708 b. We s…
Proton acceleration in thermonuclear nova explosions revealed by gamma rays
Maraschi, L.; Covino, S.; Antonelli, L. A. +207 more
Classical novae are cataclysmic binary star systems in which the matter of a companion star is accreted on a white dwarf1,2. Accumulation of hydrogen in a layer eventually causes a thermonuclear explosion on the surface of the white dwarf3, brightening the white dwarf to ~105 solar luminosities and triggering eject…
Determination of X-ray pulsar geometry with IXPE polarimetry
Wu, Kinwah; Enoto, Teruaki; Turolla, Roberto +91 more
Using observations of X-ray pulsar Hercules X-1 by the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer we report a highly significant (>17σ) detection of the polarization signal from an accreting neutron star. The observed degree of linear polarization of ~10% is far below theoretical expectations for this object, and stays low throughout the spin cycle of …
Unveiling the population of dual and lensed active galactic nuclei at sub-arcsec separations
Marconi, A.; Pancino, E.; Nardini, E. +12 more
All cosmological models of structure formation predict the existence of a widespread population of dual supermassive black holes in-spiralling inside their common host galaxy, eventually merging and giving rise to intense gravitational waves. These systems can be identified as dual active galactic nuclei (AGNs) at kiloparsec separations, but only …
Discovery of post-mass-transfer helium-burning red giants using asteroseismology
Wu, Yaqian; Bi, Shaolan; Li, Yaguang +14 more
A star expands to become a red giant when it has fused all the hydrogen in its core into helium. If the star is in a binary system, its envelope can overflow onto its companion or be ejected into space, leaving a hot core and potentially forming a subdwarf B star1-3. However, most red giants that have partially transferred envelopes in …
A likely flyby of binary protostar Z CMa caught in action
Henning, Thomas; Dong, Ruobing; Pyo, Tae-Soo +16 more
Close encounters between young stellar objects in star-forming clusters are expected to markedly perturb circumstellar disks. Such events are witnessed in numerical simulations of star formation1-3, but few direct observations of ongoing encounters have been made. Here we report sub-0.1″-resolution Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter…