Search Publications

Flux and composition of interstellar dust at Saturn from Cassini’s Cosmic Dust Analyzer

Kempf, S.; Postberg, F.; Srama, R. +12 more

Interstellar dust (ISD) is the condensed phase of the interstellar medium. In situ data from the Cosmic Dust Analyzer on board the Cassini spacecraft reveal that the Saturnian system is passed by ISD grains from our immediate interstellar neighborhood, the local interstellar cloud. We determine the mass distribution of 36 interstellar grains, thei…

Molecular gas in the halo fuels the growth of a massive cluster galaxy at high redshift

Pentericci, L.; Villar-Martín, M.; Dannerbauer, H. +19 more

The largest galaxies in the universe reside in galaxy clusters. Using sensitive observations of carbon monoxide, we show that the Spiderweb galaxy—a massive galaxy in a distant protocluster—is forming from a large reservoir of molecular gas. Most of this molecular gas lies between the protocluster galaxies and has low velocity dispersion, indicati…

Seasonal exposure of carbon dioxide ice on the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Langevin, Y.; Bellucci, G.; Jaumann, R. +75 more

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is one of the most abundant species in cometary nuclei, but because of its high volatility, CO₂ ice is generally only found beneath the surface. We report the infrared spectroscopic identification of a CO₂ ice-rich surface area located in the Anhur region of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Spe…

Cassini detects interstellar dust grains

Smith, Keith T.

Rosetta observes sublimating surface ices

Smith, Keith T.

Rosetta ends 2-year comet mission with final descent

Clery, Daniel

The nongravitational interactions of dark matter in colliding galaxy clusters

Massey, Richard; Harvey, David; Tittley, Eric +2 more

Collisions between galaxy clusters provide a test of the nongravitational forces acting on dark matter. Dark matter’s lack of deceleration in the “bullet cluster” collision constrained its self-interaction cross section σ_DM/m < 1.25 square centimeters per gram (cm²/g) [68% confidence limit (CL)] (σ_DM, self-inter…

On the nucleus structure and activity of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Bertaux, Jean-Loup; Da Deppo, Vania; Naletto, Giampiero +63 more

Images from the OSIRIS scientific imaging system onboard Rosetta show that the nucleus of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko consists of two lobes connected by a short neck. The nucleus has a bulk density less than half that of water. Activity at a distance from the Sun of >3 astronomical units is predominantly from the neck, where jets have been seen c…

Multiple images of a highly magnified supernova formed by an early-type cluster galaxy lens

Fontana, Adriano; Weiner, Benjamin J.; Schmidt, Kasper B. +28 more

In 1964, Refsdal hypothesized that a supernova whose light traversed multiple paths around a strong gravitational lens could be used to measure the rate of cosmic expansion. We report the discovery of such a system. In Hubble Space Telescope imaging, we have found four images of a single supernova forming an Einstein cross configuration around a r…

Evidence for mature bulges and an inside-out quenching phase 3 billion years after the Big Bang

Wuyts, S.; Förster Schreiber, N. M.; Genzel, R. +14 more

Most present-day galaxies with stellar masses ≥10¹¹ solar masses show no ongoing star formation and are dense spheroids. Ten billion years ago, similarly massive galaxies were typically forming stars at rates of hundreds solar masses per year. It is debated how star formation ceased, on which time scales, and how this “quenching” relate…