L’emissione ad alta energia da parte delle stelle può avere un impatto importante sulle atmosfere dei pianeti. Per comprendere questo effetto a fondo, è necessario tenere conto di come questa emissione varia nel tempo. Negli ultimi anni, le stelle di piccola massa di classe spettrale M hanno assunto una notevole importanza nella ricerca e caratterizzazione degli esopianeti. Questo perché
Una collaborazione tra l’Inaf e l’Università di Palermo ha ottenuto nuovi risultati sull’evoluzione delle stelle giovani e dei meccanismi alla base della formazione stellare nella nostra galassia. Il metodo impiegato, sviluppato da un team interdisciplinare di astrofisici e statistici, si basa su una rete neurale. Lo studio è pubblicato su Plos One Determinare l’età delle stelle giovani – oggetti celesti
A star hosting six terrestrial-type planets and showing intense X-ray emission, with a cyclic behavior on a timescale of about two years, which may have a significant impact on the properties of the planets and their atmospheres. The magnetic activity of a star manifests itself through a variety of high-energy phenomena that produce X-ray and UV radiation. Studying this
Measured the amount of plasma between 10000 and 30 million degrees—responsible for the emission of extreme UV radiation and soft X-rays—in a sample of Sun-like and low-mass stars. Sun-like stars (spectral classes FGK) and low-mass stars (spectral class M) host in their outer atmospheres (the corona) plasma at temperatures of millions of degrees. Such high temperatures are reached through
The solar corona is a structure that extends for several solar radii and is filled with low-density plasma at temperatures of millions of degrees. What heats coronal plasma to such extreme temperatures? It appears to be a combination of complex magnetic phenomena. X-ray and UV observations of the Sun reveal an atmosphere rich in bright structures that host million-degree
A new star may soon light up our sky, becoming visible even at naked eye. It is T Coronae Borealis, a recurrent nova located just under 3000 light-years away from us. In fact, it is the closest known object of this class to Earth. A nova is a system characterized by periodic explosions accompanied by sudden increases in brightness. These
Berkeley 59 is a young stellar clusters, which is experiencing a rapid asymmetric expansion Stars typically form in groups or stellar clusters containing from hundreds to thousands of members. Within these clusters, stars are not stationary but move along trajectories determined by the system’s overall gravity (that is, the gravitational potential of the cluster) and by their mutual interactions.
Rotation velocities measured for 330 B-type stars in eight stellar clusters of the Carina complex, thanks to the Gaia-ESO Survey. Stars rotate on their axes. Some, such as young stars, spin very rapidly, with rotation periods as short as one or two days. In other cases, like red giant stars, rotation is much slower, with periods lasting several months.
Planetary climatology under extreme conditions thanks to GIANO-B, HARPS-N and ESPRESSO observations of the hot Jupiter WASP-76b Among the 6007 confirmed exoplanets to date (09/22/2025), there exists a class of planets absent in the Solar System but crucial for studying atmospheric physics under extreme conditions: ultra-hot Jupiters. These are gas giants in very close orbits around their host stars,
