Volume 7 Issue 6, June 2023

The mechanisms that generate magnetic fields in stars are complex, but computational models of dynamo action show how magnetic fields can be generated by extremely turbulent flows.

A rare observation of a quasar lens challenges the cold dark matter paradigm by accounting for anomalies with stochastic interactions of wave dark matter lenses.

The far side of the Moon offers unique advantages for science. A meeting at the Royal Society in London brought together planetary scientists, astronomers, astrophysicists and other stakeholders to discuss the future of astronomy from the Moon.

A laboratory experiment has replicated the braided strands of solar coronal loops and shown that the bursting of individual strands produces X-rays. Measurements of these braided strands and the generated X-rays reveal a multi-scale process that could be responsible for the energetic particles and X-rays that accompany solar flares.

Radial velocity observations of a binary star system have led to the discovery of a gas-giant circumbinary planet, BEBOP-1 c, which is 65 times more massive than Earth, with an orbital period of 215.5 days. The binary system also hosts a smaller, inner transiting planet, TOI-1338 b, making this system a rare multi-planet circumbinary system.

A laboratory experiment replicates the braided strand nature of solar coronal loops, revealing a potential mechanism for generating energetic particles and X-ray bursts from the Sun.

High-resolution simulations of the small-scale dynamo (SSD) mechanism, with close-to-realistic parameters of deep stellar convection zones, indicate that SSDs are possible in the Sun and other cool stars, in contrast to previous theoretical expectations.

Signatures of impact-induced shocks are found on Ryugu returned particles. Observations show that they happened at moderate temperatures (~500 °C) and pressures (~2 GPa) and did not dehydrate the particles substantially, suggesting that bigger meteoroids, rather than micrometeoroids, provide Earth with hydrated minerals.

A diffusion model of Jupiter’s troposphere with updated thermochemistry can explain the upper tropospheric CO observations if the deep oxygen abundance is subsolar. Alternatively, to reproduce Juno’s supersolar deep oxygen abundances, a deep layer of reduced vertical mixing is necessary.

ALMA observations of the protoplanetary disk around HD 100546 reveal an unexpected C/O variation with azimuth. The carbon-dominated wedge of the disk can be reproduced via a model with a shadowing mechanism.

JWST detections of low-mass young stellar objects with infrared excesses in the Small Magellanic Cloud provide indications that the circumstellar material used in planet formation is available in low-metallicity environments.

The radial-velocity technique could detect a small gas giant orbiting a binary star and determine its mass: 65.2 ± 11.8 Earth masses. The system also hosts a smaller inner planet, making it one of the few known multiplanetary circumbinary systems.

Kosec et al. analyse X-ray spectroscopic observations of outflowing hot material from an accreting neutron star. An innovative technique reveals the vertical distribution of the outflow structure, which is challenging to measure otherwise.

Rare early optical observations that captured the prompt-to-afterglow emission of GRB 201223A demonstrate that it behaved according to the fireball model of gamma-ray bursts.

Early James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) results suggest a high level of star formation in the first 500 million years of the Universe. A study of the available mass from dark matter haloes shows that unexpectedly high-mass JWST galaxy candidates may challenge the prevailing cosmological model.

Modelling of the gravitationally lensed system HS 0810+2554 with wavelike dark matter resolves brightness and position anomalies remaining after the standard massive-particle dark matter treatment.

Three outrigger stations are being added to CHIME in order to improve its localization of FRB sources, writes Kiyoshi Masui on behalf of the CHIME/FRB Collaboration.

A radio interferometric array in China will form a one-kilometre aperture for tracing solar bursts and will help to improve the prediction accuracy of dangerous space-weather events.