Astronomy and planetary science articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    The red supergiant VX Sagittarii is a strong emitter of H2O and SiO masers, however its mass loss dynamics are still poorly understood. Here, the authors present astrometrically registered, simultaneous maps of SiO and H2O maser regions, and provide observational evidence for a break in spherical symmetry between the SiO and H2O maser zone.

    • Dong-Hwan Yoon
    • , Se-Hyung Cho
    •  & Do-Young Byun

  • Article
    | Open Access

    (3200) Phaethon is a near-Earth asteroid discovered in 1983 that has large inclination and eccentricity. Here, the authors perform polarimetric observation of Phaethon over a wide range of solar phase angle and report that the asteroid exhibits a very strong linear polarization.

    • Takashi Ito
    • , Masateru Ishiguro
    •  & Kiyoshi Kuramoto

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Great Oxidation Event (GOE) is considered to have occurred at 2.33–2.32 Ga based on the last occurrence of MIF-S in South Africa. Here, based on sulphur isotope analysis of samples from Western Australia, the authors show preservation of MIF-S beyond 2.31 Ga and call for a re-evaluation of GOE timing.

    • Pascal Philippot
    • , Janaína N. Ávila
    •  & Vincent Busigny

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The IceCube Neutrino Observatory has been recording a flux of high-energy cosmic neutrinos since 2013. Here, the authors investigate the possibility of increasing its sensitivity by implementing wavelength shifting optics within IceCube’s drill holes.

    • Imre Bartos
    • , Zsuzsa Marka
    •  & Szabolcs Marka

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Earthquakes generated from the Nankai Trough have caused much devastation over the years. Here, the authors present a b-value map for the Nankai Trough zone, where the Eastern part of the trough has lower b-values than the West, which may help to explain why the Eastern part tends to rupture first.

    • K. Z. Nanjo
    •  & A. Yoshida

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The surface types that comprise the dark zone of the Greenland Ice Sheet, an area of bare ice with low albedo, are unknown. Here, the authors use UAV imagery to show that, during the melt-season, biologically active surface impurities are responsible for spatial albedo patterns and the dark zone itself.

    • Jonathan C. Ryan
    • , Alun Hubbard
    •  & Jason Box

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Sun’s light stable isotopes compositions can help us understand how our solar system formed. Here, the authors find that solar C is depleted relative to bulk Earth indicating that the 13C enrichment of the terrestrial planets is from CO self-shielding or inheritance from the parent cloud.

    • James R. Lyons
    • , Ehsan Gharib-Nezhad
    •  & Thomas R. Ayres

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Many methanogenic archaea use H2 and CO2 to produce methane. Here, Taubner et al. show that Methanothermococcus okinawensis produces methane under conditions extrapolated for Saturn’s icy moon, Enceladus, and estimate that serpentinization may produce sufficient H2 for biological methane production.

    • Ruth-Sophie Taubner
    • , Patricia Pappenreiter
    •  & Simon K.-M. R. Rittmann

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Pulsar timing arrays enable the search for the isotropic gravitational-wave (GW) background originating from super massive black hole binary populations, but impose a stringent upper limit on the GW characteristic amplitude. Here, the authors use Bayesian hierarchical modelling applied to a range of astrophysical scenarios to revisit the implications of this upper limit.

    • Hannah Middleton
    • , Siyuan Chen
    •  & Alberto Vecchio

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A short-duration gamma-ray burst was detected along with a double neutron start merger gravitational wave by LIGO-Virgo on August 17th 2017. Here, the authors show that the fluence and spectral peak energy of this event fall into the lower portion of the distribution of known short-duration gamma-ray bursts.

    • B.-B. Zhang
    • , B. Zhang
    •  & E.-W. Liang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Solar eruptions are large explosions occurring in the solar atmosphere. Here, the authors perform magnetohydrodynamic simulations to unveil the dynamics of a solar eruption, and find that these are dominated by nonlinear processes involving flux tube evolution and reconnection.

    • Satoshi Inoue
    • , Kanya Kusano
    •  & Jan Skála

  • Article
    | Open Access

    White-light flares are rare solar events entailing emission in the optical continuum. Here, the authors report a nearly circular white-light flare observed on March 10th 2015 that contains simultaneously both impulsive and gradual white-light kernels.

    • Q. Hao
    • , K. Yang
    •  & Z. Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Mantle partial melting produced the volcanic crust of Mercury. Here, the authors numerically model the formation of post-impact melt sheets and find that mantle convection was weak at around 3.7–3.8 Ga and that the melt sheets of Caloris and Rembrandt may contain partial melting of pristine mantle material.

    • Sebastiano Padovan
    • , Nicola Tosi
    •  & Thomas Ruedas

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Winged radio galaxies possess wing features detectable at radio wavelengths, yet the physical interpretation of such extragalactic radio sources remains elusive. Here, the authors report the observation of a downsized Z-shaped radio emission from the Galactic microquasar GRS 1758-258, shedding light on the formation of wings in radio galaxies given its strongly  reminiscent winged morphology.

    • Josep Martí
    • , Pedro L. Luque-Escamilla
    •  & Josep M. Paredes

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The polar hot-spot appeared in Titan after equinox in 2010 suddenly cooled in early 2012, which wasn’t predicted by models. Here the authors use observations to show that the increase in trace gases during the hot-spot resulted in radiative cooling feedback.

    • Nicholas A. Teanby
    • , Bruno Bézard
    •  & F. Michael Flasar

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Radio observations of the solar atmosphere provide a unique view on the non-thermal processes in the outer atmosphere. Here the authors use LOFAR observations to demonstrate that the observed radio burst characteristics are dominated by propagation effects rather than underlying emission variations.

    • E. P. Kontar
    • , S. Yu
    •  & P. Subramanian

  • Article
    | Open Access

    14C can be absorbed by trees as a result of the interaction of cosmic rays produced by high-energy phenomena with the Earth’s atmosphere. Here, the authors observe a rapid increase of 14C in an ancient buried tree from BC 3372 to BC 3371, and suggest that it could originate from a large solar proton event.

    • F. Y. Wang
    • , H. Yu
    •  & K. S. Cheng

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Solar eruptions provide opportunities to study magnetic flux ropes, a structure of fundamental importance for both plasma physics and space weather. Here the authors reveal the dynamic formation of a flux rope through its footprint on the solar surface, revealing a highly twisted core structure.

    • Wensi Wang
    • , Rui Liu
    •  & Chunming Zhu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In the Gale Crater on Mars, organic matter has been detected, but in much lower concentrations than expected. Here, the authors conduct clay mineral synthesis experiments which suggest that clay minerals may rapidly form under oxidized conditions and thus explain the low organic concentrations in Gale Crater.

    • Seth R. Gainey
    • , Elisabeth M. Hausrath
    •  & Courtney L. Bartlett

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Downslope sediment transport on Mars is reported, but the transport capacity of unstable water under low pressures is not well understood. Here, the authors present a newly discovered, highly reactive transportation mechanism that is only possible under low pressure environments.

    • Jan Raack
    • , Susan J. Conway
    •  & Manish R. Patel

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Gravitational wave sources can be used as cosmological probes through a direct distance luminosity relation. Here, the authors demonstrate that the time delay between lensed gravitational wave signals and their electromagnetic counterparts can reduce the uncertainty in the Hubble constant.

    • Kai Liao
    • , Xi-Long Fan
    •  & Zong-Hong Zhu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Sun’s elemental composition is a vital part of understanding the processes that transport energy from the interior to the outer atmosphere. Here, the authors show that if the Sun is observed as a star, then the variation of coronal composition is highly correlated with the F10.7cm radio flux.

    • David H. Brooks
    • , Deborah Baker
    •  & Harry P. Warren

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Eridania basin on Mars was once the site of a vast inland sea. Here, the authors show that the most ancient materials in the Eridania basin were formed in a deep-water hydrothermal setting and may be an analogue for early environmental conditions on Earth.

    • Joseph R. Michalski
    • , Eldar Z. Noe Dobrea
    •  & Javier Cuadros

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The dynamic of plasma heating in solar flares can be effectively derived from observations of optical hydrogen H-α line emissions. Here the authors report the observation of a C1.5 class flare that produced two H-α ribbons, interpreted combining radiative models affected by an electron beam.

    • Malcolm Druett
    • , Eamon Scullion
    •  & Luc Rouppe Van der Voort

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Abundant molecular oxygen was discovered recently in the coma of comet 67P, thought to be of primordial origin. Here, the authors propose a dynamic reaction mechanism for cometary comae, which produces O2directly in single collisions of energetic water ions with oxidized cometary surface analogues.

    • Yunxi Yao
    •  & Konstantinos P. Giapis

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Large variations in insolation experienced by circumbinary planets raise the question of the habitability of such planets. Here, the authors show that while the changing insolation does not radically affect habitability, it does impact on the planet’s climate and on the interpretation of future observations.

    • Max Popp
    •  & Siegfried Eggl

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Advanced LIGO has detected gravitational waves from two binary black hole mergers, plus a merger candidate. Here the authors use the COMPAS code to show that all three events can be explained by a single evolutionary channel via a common envelope phase, and characterize the progenitor metallicity and masses.

    • Simon Stevenson
    • , Alejandro Vigna-Gómez
    •  & Selma E. de Mink

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Alfvén waves are fundamental plasma modes that provide a mechanism for the transfer of energy between particles and fields. Here the authors confirm experimentally the conservative energy exchange between Alfvén wave fields and plasma particles via high-resolution MMS observations of Earth’s magnetosphere.

    • Daniel J. Gershman
    • , Adolfo F-Viñas
    •  & James L. Burch

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The long-term Lorenz energy cycle of Earth’s global remains poorly explored. Here, the authors use three independent meteorological data sets from the modern satellite era (1979–2013) to examine the temporal characteristics of such a cycle.

    • Yefeng Pan
    • , Liming Li
    •  & Andrew P. Ingersoll

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Back reaction of coronal magnetic fields on the solar surface may help to understand the coronal reconfiguration during a solar flare. Here the authors report observation of reversal of the rotation of a sunspot during a X1.6 flare with data from HMI.

    • Yi Bi
    • , Yunchun Jiang
    •  & Zhe Xu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Extremely metal-poor galaxies in the local universe are the best analogues to investigating the interstellar medium at a quasi-primitive environment in the early universe. Here, the authors detect CO emission in a galaxy at 7% solar metallicity, offering direct evidence for the presence of molecular gas.

    • Yong Shi
    • , Junzhi Wang
    •  & Qiusheng Gu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Model predictions of atomic hydrogen behaviour in the terrestrial atmosphere have long-standing discrepancies with geocoronal observations. Here, using satellite measurements, Qin and Waldrop note the existence of hot hydrogen atoms in the upper thermosphere, reconciling observational modelling differences.

    • Jianqi Qin
    •  & Lara Waldrop

  • Article
    | Open Access

    One hypothesis for solar system formation is gas compression by a nearby supernova, whose traces should be found in isotopic anomalies. Here the authors show that this mechanism is viable only if the triggering event was a low-mass supernova, looking at short-lived 10Be and lack of anomalies in stable isotopes.

    • Projjwal Banerjee
    • , Yong-Zhong Qian
    •  & W C Haxton

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In the weak field limit, boson star evolution is governed by the Newton-Schrödinger equation. Here the authors report an optical setup that provides a formal analogue of such dynamics via the interaction between vortex beams and a medium with positive thermo-optical nonlinearity.

    • Thomas Roger
    • , Calum Maitland
    •  & Daniele Faccio

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The origin, variability, and structure of Saturn’s intense and broad eastward equatorial jet at upper cloud level are complex and unexplained. Here, based on observations of a large, bright equatorial disturbance in 2015, the authors characterise the vertical structure of the jet and its long-term variability.

    • A. Sánchez-Lavega
    • , E. García-Melendo
    •  & T. Barry

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Counter-rotating gases demonstrate external gas acquisition in galaxies, but their presence in blue, star-forming galaxies has not been studied systematically. Here, the authors analyse the MaNGA survey data to find a fraction of counter-rotators among blue galaxies whose central regions show ongoing growth.

    • Yan-Mei Chen
    • , Yong Shi
    •  & Ren-Bin Yan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Sunspots are concentration of magnetic field visible on the solar surface, which were thought to be unaffected by solar flares that take place in the solar corona. Here the authors report evidence of a flare-induced rotation of a sunspot, showing nonuniform acceleration following the peaks of X-ray emissions.

    • Chang Liu
    • , Yan Xu
    •  & Haimin Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The interaction between the Earth’s magnetic field and the solar wind results in the formation of a collisionless bow shock. Here, the authors study an even in which the solar wind Mach number remained steadily below one, leading to the evanescence of the bow shock and loss of electrons in the outer belts.

    • Noé Lugaz
    • , Charles J. Farrugia
    •  & Nathan A. Schwadron

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The processes that lead to losses of highly energetic particles from Earth’s radiation belts remain poorly understood. Here the authors compare observations and models of a 2013 event to show that electromagnetic ioncyclotron waves provide the dominant loss mechanism at ultra-relativistic energies.

    • Yuri Y. Shprits
    • , Alexander Y. Drozdov
    •  & Nikita A. Aseev

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A macronova is a clear signature that a short gamma-ray burst has been emitted by a compact-binary merger, but evidence of these events is so far scarce. Here, the authors report signs of a macronova in the optical afterglow of GRB050709, and find similar evidence in other three short bursts.

    • Zhi-Ping Jin
    • , Kenta Hotokezaka
    •  & Tsvi Piran

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The origin of the numerous linear grooves and craters that litter the Martian moon Phobos' surface remains enigmatic. Here, by modelling low-velocity escaping ejecta from impacts to Phobos, the authors show that several of these chains can be explained by reimpacting sesquinary ejecta shortly after ejection.

    • M. Nayak
    •  & E. Asphaug

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental process giving rise to topology change and energy release in plasmas, of particular relevance for the Sun. Here the authors report the observation of fast reconnection in a solar filament eruption, which occurs between a set of ambient fibrils and the filament itself.

    • Zhike Xue
    • , Xiaoli Yan
    •  & Li Zhao

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