A ‘hot Jupiter’ with unusual winds
Puzzling finding raises new questions about atmospheric physics of giant planets The hottest point on a gaseous planet near a distant star isn’t where astrophysicists expected it to be – a discovery that challenges scientists’ understanding of the many planets of this type found in solar systems outside our own. Unlike our familiar planet Jupiter, […]
Neutron-star merger yields new puzzle for astrophysicists
Afterglow from cosmic smash-up continues to brighten, confounding expectations The afterglow from the distant neutron-star merger detected last August has continued to brighten – much to the surprise of astrophysicists studying the aftermath of the massive collision that took place about 138 million light years away and sent gravitational waves rippling through the universe. New observations […]
A repeating fast radio burst from an extreme environment
Extragalactic source of radio-wave flashes resides in a powerfully magnetized astrophysical region New detections of radio waves from a repeating fast radio burst have revealed an astonishingly potent magnetic field in the source’s environment, indicating that it is situated near a massive black hole or within a nebula of unprecedented power. The findings by an […]
Journey to the Center of a White-Dwarf Star
A stellar core that challenges predictions: here is the result of the first cartography of the interior of a white-dwarf star performed by an international team lead by a young researcher from the Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie of Toulouse and three researchers from the Center for Research in Astrophysics of Quebec at […]