Articles in 2023

Periodic sub-structure in radio emission from magnetars provides an observational link not only between magnetars and fast radio bursts, but across all classes of radio-emitting rotating neutron stars. The correlation between sub-structure periodicity and neutron-star rotational period can be used to determine an underlying period for fast radio bursts.

Hubert Reeves, a most renowned astrophysicist for both his scientific accomplishments and outstanding outreach efforts, passed away on 13 October 2023.

Iron nitride (Fe₄N) is detected on magnetite particles within the Ryugu sample returned by Hayabusa2. It is probably the product of impacts of nitrogen-rich dust from the outer Solar System on the surface of Ryugu, indicative of a flux of N-rich dust in the inner Solar System.

ALMA observations show the streams of molecular gas blown from the centre of a galaxy by the energy released by an active supermassive black hole are falling back onto the black hole, making sure it stays active.

The optical properties of the organic hazes that form in water-rich exoplanet atmospheres differ from those that form in nitrogen-rich atmospheres. This difference in optical properties can have an observable effect on spectral observations of exoplanets and could impact the interpretation of current and upcoming JWST observations.

The observation by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory of high-energy neutrinos from the Galactic plane indicates that the Milky Way is deficient in neutrinos, most probably because it has not hosted an active source for the past few tens of kiloyears.

The reported optical properties of organic hazes produced in water-rich exoplanet atmospheres differ from those in nitrogen-rich atmospheres. Such differences have a detectable effect on the spectra, impacting interpretation of JWST observations.

This work identifies a period structure in the radio emission of magnetars that can be observed in all classes of radio-emitting rotating neutron stars, regardless of their evolutionary history, their power source or their magnetic field strength.

This work finds a systematic offset of 5.5 ± 1.1 Myr between estimates of the ages of stars made with two popular techniques: isochronal fitting and dynamical traceback. This offset is proposed to represent the time a young star remains bound to its parental cloud before dispersing and could help to improve stellar evolutionary models.

Synchrotron and inverse-Compton emission provide evidence for a reverse-shock origin of the high-energy emission from a gamma-ray burst, GRB 180720B. The polarization of the optical emission originating from the reverse shock suggests a turbulent shock that is amplified by the magnetic field in the relativistic ejecta.

The Zhurong rover identified polygonal terrain at a depth of 35 m under Utopia Planitia on Mars. This finding suggests that the mid-latitudinal region experienced a cold and wet environment near the freezing point of water around the Hesperian–Amazonian transition, possibly induced by Mars’s high obliquity.

In academia, we ignore the whole person to the detriment of the growth of the scientist and the community. Trauma is a black hole eating away at the health of individual scientists.

A supercomputer simulation shows that the strikingly varied distributions of different galaxy types across the Local Supercluster arise naturally in the standard models of cosmology and galaxy formation.

The ASTRO 3D Centre of Excellence achieved 50% women personnel over a 5 yr time-frame by implementing a suite of evidence-based recruitment and retention initiatives. These initiatives changed how postdoctoral researchers were recruited and helped to develop a supportive and positive culture.

Charles Gammie and colleagues wrote the HARM code to tackle the extreme physics close to a spinning black hole. Twenty years later, it is performing a similar task in three dimensions in 1/10,000th of the time.