Astronomy and astrophysics articles from across Nature Portfolio

Astronomy and astrophysics are the study of objects and phenomena that are found beyond our solar system. This combines theoretical simulations and observation with both terrestrial and space-craft-borne instruments of the electromagnetic radiation and high-energy particles emitted by celestial bodies.

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News & Views | 05 June 2023

Gravitational waves could reveal the environment of inspiralling black holes

Nature Astronomy, 1-2
News & Views | 31 May 2023

Search for distant atmosphere off to a rocky start
- Laura Kreidberg
Nature 618, 32-33
News & Views | 29 May 2023

Ammonia and the ice giants
- Kenji Ohta
Nature Physics, 1-2

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Research
07 June 2023 | Open Access

A metal-poor star with abundances from a pair-instability supernova

The chemical composition of the Galactic halo star J1010+2358 shows extremely low sodium and cobalt abundances, different from most other halo stars, indicative of a very metal-poor star being seeded with elements from a pair-instability supernova.
- Qian-Fan Xing
- , Gang Zhao
- & Jing-Kun Zhao
Nature, 1-4
Research
07 June 2023 | Open Access

Interchange reconnection as the source of the fast solar wind within coronal holes

Measurements of fast solar wind streams from the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft provide strong evidence for the interchange reconnection mechanism being responsible for accelerating the fast solar wind.
- S. D. Bale
- , J. F. Drake
- & J. C. Kasper
Nature 618, 252-256
Research | 05 June 2023

Distinguishing environmental effects on binary black hole gravitational waveforms

A Bayesian approach to comparing the effects of accretion disks, dark matter or clouds of ultra-light bosons on gravitational waveforms from a black hole binary system concludes that detectors such as LISA can distinguish between these environments.
- Philippa S. Cole
- , Gianfranco Bertone
- & Giovanni Maria Tomaselli
Nature Astronomy, 1-8
Research | 05 June 2023

Spatial variations in aromatic hydrocarbon emission in a dust-rich galaxy

We present James Webb Space Telescope observations that detect the 3.3 μm polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon feature in a galaxy observed less than 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang.
- Justin S. Spilker
- , Kedar A. Phadke
- & Katherine E. Whitaker
Nature, 1-4
Research
03 June 2023 | Open Access

A mechanistic interpretation of relativistic rigid body rotation
- Stefan Catheline
Scientific Reports 13, 9047
Research
02 June 2023 | Open Access

Turbulent convection as a significant hidden provider of magnetic helicity in solar eruptions
- Shin Toriumi
- , Hideyuki Hotta
- & Kanya Kusano
Scientific Reports 13, 8994

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News and Comment

News | 07 June 2023

A brain circuit for infanticide, in mice

Research reveals system underlying behaviour change towards young, and identifying the source of fast solar wind.
- Noah Baker
- & Nick Petrić Howe
Nature
News | 06 June 2023

Lasers pierce the stunning dark skies of the Atacama Desert

One of the world’s most advanced telescopes, located in Chile, uses the beams to make artificial stars.

Nature
News & Views | 05 June 2023

Gravitational waves could reveal the environment of inspiralling black holes

As pairs of black holes inspiral and merge, they create gravitational waves. These waves hold information about the environment in which the black holes are embedded: using future space-based gravitational-wave detectors, it will be possible to distinguish what kind of environment that is.

Nature Astronomy, 1-2
Comments & Opinion | 05 June 2023

Frank Shu (1943–2023)

Astrophysicist who researched galactic structure and star formation.
- Douglas Lin
- & Fred Adams
Nature 618, 237
News | 05 June 2023

JWST spots the most distant ‘smoke’ molecules ever seen in space

The presence of the molecules in an early galaxy means it must have pumped out stars at a furious pace, researchers say.
- Alexandra Witze
Nature
News & Views | 31 May 2023

Search for distant atmosphere off to a rocky start

Astronomers have used observations of infrared light to measure the heat emanating from an Earth-sized exoplanet known as TRAPPIST-1b. Their findings reveal that the planet is a bare rock, devoid of any atmosphere.
- Laura Kreidberg
Nature 618, 32-33

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