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A substantial population of previously unknown massive dusty galaxies during the first two billion years after the Big Bang have been identified with submillimetre observations. They may solve some outstanding puzzles related to the formation and evolution of most massive galaxies in the Universe today.
To what extent do small-scale processes, such as star formation and black-hole accretion, affect global galaxy properties such as stellar masses, star formation rates and chemical abundances?
Measurements from Cassini’s Grand Finale, when the spacecraft flew between Saturn and its rings, have been used to claim that the rings are much younger than the planet itself. However, this interpretation does not solve all of the inconsistencies, and the question of the age of Saturn’s rings is still open.
Most binary Kuiper belt objects orbit each other in the same direction as their orbit around the Sun. New computer simulations show that such orbits may be a fingerprint of planetesimal formation from collapsing clumps of pebbles.
The European Astronomical Society awarded its most prestigious prizes during its annual meeting, the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science, held in Lyon, France, from 24 to 28 June 2019.
Careful measurements taken over 15 years have revealed a new planetary companion to the famous young star, Beta Pictoris, thereby unveiling one of the most massive extrasolar planetary systems yet discovered.
Astronomers using the Zwicky Transient Facility have discovered two white dwarfs orbiting each other every 6.9 minutes. But there is nothing transient about the gravitational waves emitted from this binary: the stars will produce persistent ripples in spacetime for millennia.
Thermonuclear supernovae — those involving the explosion of a white dwarf — and particularly type-Ia supernovae, have become indispensable tools for observationally measuring the expansion of the Universe. However, we still do not fully understand these objects, especially the range of progenitor systems that give rise to them. Future observations will enable us to make headway.
The diversity of core-collapse supernovae — the explosions of massive stars — has increased greatly recently, driven by developments in observing facilities and techniques. Here Modjaz, Gutiérrez and Arcavi survey the current observational classifications, question whether the lines are starting to blur and look forward to the large samples of supernovae that are to come.
The latest observational developments in the fast-paced fields of superluminous supernovae and fast blue optical transients, both types of extreme supernovae, are reviewed. The next decade, with the advent of survey facilities such as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, will deliver many more examples of such objects.
On its way to Jupiter in 1990, the Galileo spacecraft searched for signs of life on Earth, providing a set of control experiments that continue to inform our quest to detect extraterrestrial life.
Two landmark papers in the 1970s contributed strongly to establishing the importance of galaxy interactions and mergers in the formation and evolution of galaxies, using only gravity, and the ensuing dynamical friction.
Multivariate analysis of infrared hyperspectral images of the Saturnian satellite Titan reveals widespread ice-rich terrains in the tropics. They are related to a variety of contemporary or past geological processes.
Multi-technique analyses of a stardust grain from a CO nova outburst show that carbon- and oxygen-rich phases co-condensed in the stellar ejecta, confirming previous spectroscopy observations.
Held in Bologna, Italy, in May 2019, the conference served to engage a wide community in the planning for this first open observatory in very-high-energy gamma rays, expected to start full operation in 2025.
Young galaxies are most effective at converting gas into stars. Intense accretion of fuel is required to keep galaxies growing, but these gas streams have largely eluded observations. New instruments at optical telescopes are now uncovering clues of their existence.
‘Oumuamua is the first interstellar interloper observed in our Solar System and studied in some detail. This Perspective reviews the data acquired during its visit and discusses its origin and properties, concluding that there is no basis to the theory of an artificial ‘Oumuamua.
Extremely deep observations of the Coma galaxy cluster with the Chandra X-ray Observatory have found that the gas between galaxies, where the vast majority of the baryons lie, is far less viscous than expected.
The interstellar medium in our Galaxy is threaded by magnetic fields. A new method of inferring magnetic field directions from spectroscopic measurements of this turbulent medium provides insight into the role of these magnetic fields in molecular cloud formation and evolution.
