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A new model demonstrates how the formation of annular structures in a protoplanetary disk can later produce planetary systems that reproduce both the orbital architecture and meteoritic isotope trends observed in our Solar System.
The planetary architecture of the Solar System and its isotopic dichotomy can be reproduced using a protoplanetary disk model structured with rings and gaps, as commonly seen in protoplanetary disks around other stars.
A new model for the origin of the Solar System proposes planet building blocks formed fast from material that was transported outwards to cooler regions. It claims to be consistent with the properties of ancient meteorites.
Previously unresolved radio features of nearby Centaurus A reveal transition regions for both the feeding of this active galaxy and the feedback mechanism for recycling energy back into the surrounding medium.
A population of free-floating planets in Upper Scorpius that is larger than that predicted by core-collapse models suggests that the ejection of planets due to dynamical interactions early in the lifetime of a forming planetary system is more common than prevoiusly thought.
High-spectral-resolution data from the CARMENES spectrometer could resolve the neutral oxygen triple line at 777.4 nm in the atmosphere of ultrahot Jupiter KELT-9b. The results show the presence of non-local thermodynamic equilibrium processes and reveal macro- and microturbulence induced by fast winds with speeds ranging between 3 and 13 km s−1.
An evolutionary model of the solar protoplanetary disk that includes the decrease of its viscosity with time and the accretion of gas from the interstellar medium shows that planetesimals formed simultaneously in two locations: at the water snowline (~5 au) and at the silicate sublimation line (~1 au), explaining the observed isotopic dichotomy of iron meteorites.
A multi-disciplinary team recently came together online to discuss the application of sonification in astronomy, focusing on the effective use of sound for scientific discovery and for improving accessibility to astronomy research and education.
The first robotically obtained samples of a carbonaceous asteroid have been safely returned to Earth. A non-destructive first-look analysis shows that asteroid Ryugu may be a CI chondrite with interesting variations.
The MicrOmega imaging spectrometer performed a first characterization of the sample returned from asteroid Ryugu by Hayabusa2. Compositional homogeneity dominates down to millimetre scales, with signatures of hydrated phases and organics. At the submillimetre scale, NH-rich compounds and alteration products such as carbonates are detected.
The Hayabusa2 spacecraft returned 5.4 g of material from the asteroid Ryugu. A first analysis of the samples found an estimated density of 1,282 ± 231 kg m−3, considerably lower than even the most porous meteorites. Together with preliminary spectral analysis, these results indicate that Ryugu is similar to CI chondrites, but darker, more porous and more brittle.
Observations of some so-called ‘water fountain’ stars show that they appear to have lost a large fraction of their initial mass in a very short time (hundreds of years). This leads Khouri et al. to suggest that these sources have undergone the poorly understood process of common-envelope evolution, where the envelope of one star engulfs that of its companion.
Magnetospheres of exoplanets are vast, tenuous and hard to detect. Deep blue-shifted absorption lines observed in the extended region around HAT-P-11 b may provide evidence for a magnetosphere and magnetotail.
There is an ongoing debate as to whether ultra-diffuse galaxies are regular dwarf galaxies with low star formation or massive ‘failed’ objects that quenched their star formation in the early Universe. Current evidence seems to support the former scenario.
The Milky Way, Andromeda and Centaurus A host flattened arrangements of satellite dwarf galaxies with correlated kinematics. The rarity of similar structures in cosmological simulations constitutes a major problem for the ΛCDM model, with no obvious solution in sight.
