Volume 1 Issue 1, January 2017

On 21 August, for those lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time, nothing will happen for a few blissful minutes, and it will mean everything.

Scientists are comfortable in their own communities but other groups working on similar phenomena at different length scales could provide unexpected insights. Collaborations are more likely to uncover common underlying principles.

Early observations of the flaring object ASASSN-15lh led astronomers to cast it as the most luminous supernova ever. Now, convincing evidence indicates that this object is not as it seemed. In fact, fitting it into any known box is a challenge.

The heated debate on the importance of stellar rotation and age spreads in massive star clusters has just become hotter by throwing stellar variability into the mix.

Atmospheres within the Solar System are known to exhibit seasonal changes. Observations with the Kepler spacecraft hint at analogous periodic weather variations in an exoplanet atmosphere.

The detection of a tailed radio galaxy in a galaxy cluster conjoined to a region of diffuse radio emission confirms that radio galaxies provide the energetic electrons needed to explain the origin of this enigmatic emission.

This Review gives an overview of some pivotal open questions on planetary formation and evolution, with water as the underlying common theme, and how the planetary and exoplanetary communities can help each other in addressing them.

Analysis of atmospheric spectra between 20 and 350 μm obtained at Dome A in Antarctica reveals the excellent year-round conditions of this location for Terahertz & Far-IR astronomical observations from ground, usually hindered by water vapour bands.

Transient object ASASSN-15lh was previously cast as the most luminous supernova ever discovered. Now, however, there is convincing evidence that its flare was a tidal disruption event: a rapidly-spinning black hole tearing apart a neighbouring star.

The detection of temporal variations in the peak of the phase curve of the hot giant exoplanet HAT-P-7 b is explained by changes in wind speed and cloud coverage in its atmosphere. Such ‘weather’ has never before been observed on a giant exoplanet.

Bright deposits, at least one of which is made up of water ice, are detected in the permanent shadows of 10 craters in the northern polar area of the dwarf planet Ceres. This means that Ceres traps water ice at high latitudes, like the Moon and Mercury.

Measurements of cold molecular gas from galaxies with stellar masses and star formation rates similar to those of the main progenitor of the Milky Way 8.5 billion years ago show similar physics of star formation to that seen now.

An experimental apparatus using a single optical atomic clock to detect dark matter topological defects (like strings) is proposed. Tests show it can constrain the dark matter–Standard Model coupling strength ~3 orders of magnitude better than previous limits.

Multi-wavelength data from a cluster–cluster merger reveals that relativistic electrons ejected from near an actively accreting black hole are efficiently re-accelerated at a cluster shock to produce characteristically diffuse radio emission.

Following the completion of the largest single-dish radio telescope ever built, the real work may now begin, explain Rendong Nan and Haiyan Zhang.

Water ice has been spotted on Ceres, the largest asteroid in the asteroid belt. The ice is trapped in craters at the northern pole — some of the coldest, darkest places in our Solar System. Ceres is now the third planetary body, after the Moon and Mercury, where water ice has been detected in permanently shadowed areas.