The supernova remnant Puppis A reveals itself as an efficient particle accelerator, through different mechanisms in different regions of the remnant In the 15th episode of the fourth season of the science fiction series Battlestar Galactica, the automaton Cavil complains about not being able to observe the Universe in X-rays and gamma rays, being limited—like humans—to only the visible
A new study on the low mass stellar population of the star forming region Corona Australis shed light on the formation of brown dwarfs In recent years, several studies of star-forming regions near the Sun have revealed that a significant fraction of the stellar population of the Milky Way consists of brown dwarfs—objects whose cores do not reach the
A stellar explosion, a pulsar, and a supernova remnant – that’s the story of Calvera. Positioned more than 6,500 light-years above the Galactic plane, this system is rewriting what we know about stellar evolution in our galaxy. The research originates from a team at the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), in collaboration with the University of Palermo, and is
In the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A, three jets rich in material synthesized in the innermost layers of the progenitor star reveal the secrets of the processes that occur in a supernova immediately after core collapse. Understanding the phenomena that follow the collapse of a massive star core is one of the most important goals of modern astrophysics. These processes
The analysis of a long X-ray observation reveals the nature of the mysterious star Wd1-9: a binary system containing a star that has recently evolved into the Wolf-Rayet phase, after expelling the outer layers of its atmosphere, which were accreted onto the companion star. Among the at least one hundred billion stars hosted by our Galaxy, there are a
Eight free-floating planetary-mass objects, identified in three star-forming regions, exhibit unique features: signs of ongoing planet formation and silicate-rich clouds in their photospheres. It was in the year 2000 that we first learned of the possible existence of free-floating planetary-mass objects—not bound to any exoplanetary system—thanks to observations analyzed by two research groups, one from the Institute of Astrophysics
Hot Jupiters are gas giants that orbit at distances less than 0.1 AU from their host star. But what determines the final orbital radius of these planets? In intermediate-mass stars, it seems to be the dispersion of gas in their protoplanetary disks. Hot Jupiters are a class of exoplanets that are not found in our Solar System. They are
Micrometric dust particles, both in the diffuse interstellar medium and in nebulae, interact with light, giving rise to many important phenomena. This interaction also depends on the shape and microphysics of the dust grains. A galaxy like ours hosts not only stars, planets, and compact objects, but also dust and gas organized both in a diffuse, extremely low-density medium
Too small to be a star, too large to be a planet, Cha 1107-7626 is the smallest known isolated object (6–10 Jupiter masses) surrounded by a protoplanetary disk rich in gas and dust, which is still actively accreting gas and hosts organic molecules such as methane and ethylene. Brown dwarfs are fascinating objects that represent a bridge between stars
A total of 17229 flares were observed and studied in 173 M-type stars located within 33 light-years from Earth. The study reveals that the most energetic flares occur in the least massive stars, while in the more massive ones, variability is dominated by less intense flares. Magnetic field generation in stars takes place in their interiors, through complex physical processes
