Astronomy and planetary science articles within Nature

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  • Books & Arts |

    Paul Davies's latest book argues that the search for intelligent life beyond Earth should be expanded. Chris McKay considers why we should look closer to home — perhaps even in our DNA.

    • Chris McKay

  • Letter |

    WASP-12b is a planet of 1.4 Jupiter masses that orbits at a mean distance of only 3.1 stellar radii from its star; its orbital period is 1.1 days, and its radius (1.79 times that of Jupiter) is unexpectedly large. An analysis of its properties now reveals that the planet is losing mass to its host star at a rate of ∼10−7 Jupiter masses per year, and that dissipation of the star's tidal perturbation in the planet's convective envelope provides the energy source for its large volume.

    • Shu-lin Li
    • , N. Miller
    •  & Jonathan J. Fortney

  • News |

    Astrophysicists ponder whether ultrahigh-energy particles really do come from the centre of galaxies.

    • Eric Hand

  • Letter |

    Type Ia supernovae are thought to be associated with the thermonuclear explosions of white dwarf stars, but the nuclear runaway that leads to the explosion could occur through two different pathways with different X-ray signatures. The X-ray flux from six nearby elliptical galaxies and galaxy bulges is now observed to reveal that it is a factor of about 30–50 less than predicted by the accretion scenario, where a white dwarf accumulates material from a companion star.

    • Marat Gilfanov
    •  & Ákos Bogdán

  • Letter |

    One of the central predictions of general relativity is that a clock in a gravitational potential well runs more slowly than a similar clock outside the well. This effect, known as gravitational redshift, has been measured using clocks on a tower, an aircraft and a rocket, but here, laboratory experiments based on quantum interference of atoms are shown to produce a much more precise measurement.

    • Holger Müller
    • , Achim Peters
    •  & Steven Chu

  • Letter |

    It is widely accepted that strong and variable radiation detected over all accessible energy bands in a number of active galaxies arises from a relativistic, Doppler-boosted jet pointing close to our line of sight. However, the size of the emitting zone and the location of this region relative to the central supermassive black hole are poorly understood. Here, the coincidence of a γ-ray flare with a dramatic change of optical polarization angle is reported, providing evidence for co-spatiality of optical and γ-ray emission regions and indicating a highly ordered jet magnetic field.

    • A. A. Abdo
    • , M. Ackermann
    •  & M. Sikora

  • Authors |

    X-rays yield clues to the evolution of a yardstick supernova.

  • News & Views |

    In some galaxies, matter falling onto a supermassive black hole is ejected in narrow jets moving at close to the speed of light. New observations provide insight into the workings of these cosmic accelerators.

    • Andy Young

  • News Feature |

    As hundreds of US astronomers draft their latest decadal wish list of new projects, Nature took a short-cut by convening a small survey around a dinner table. Eric Hand listens in.

    • Eric Hand

  • Letter |

    Stars form from cold molecular interstellar gas, which is relatively rare in the local Universe, such that galaxies like the Milky Way form only a few new stars per year. However, typical massive galaxies in the distant Universe formed stars much more rapidly, suggesting that young galaxies were more rich in molecular gas. The results of a survey of molecular gas in samples of typical massive star-forming galaxies when the Universe was 40% and 24% of its current age now reveal that distant star-forming galaxies were indeed gas rich.

    • L. J. Tacconi
    • , R. Genzel
    •  & B. Weiner

  • Editorial |

    NASA is taking a risk on commercial space services. But the pay-offs could be high.

  • News & Views |

    The cool molecular gas from which stars form has been detected in relatively ordinary faraway galaxies. The results point to a continuous fuelling of gas into the star-forming guts of assembling galaxies.

    • Andrew Blain

  • Letter |

    Infrared spectroscopy can probe the conditions and compositions of exoplanet atmospheres. Previous results relied on space-based telescopes that do not provide spectroscopic capability in the 2.4–5.2 μm spectral region. Here, ground-based observations of the dayside emission spectrum for HD 189733b are reported between 2.0–2.4 μm and 3.1–4.1 μm; an unexpected feature at around 3.25 μm is found that is difficult to explain with models that assume local thermodynamic equilibrium conditions, and is assigned to methane.

    • Mark R. Swain
    • , Pieter Deroo
    •  & Thomas Henning

  • News & Views |

    The atmospheric properties of distant worlds are becoming increasingly clear. The latest observations reveal fluorescent emission from methane in the upper atmosphere of a Jupiter-like extrasolar planet.

    • Seth Redfield

  • Letter |

    Long duration γ-ray bursts mark the explosive death of some massive stars and are a rare sub-class of type Ibc supernovae. To date, central-engine-driven supernovae have been discovered exclusively through their γ-ray emission, yet it is expected that a larger population goes undetected. The discovery of luminous radio emission from the seemingly ordinary type Ibc supernova SN 2009bb, which requires a substantial relativistic outflow powered by a central engine, is now reported.

    • A. M. Soderberg
    • , S. Chakraborti
    •  & M. A. P. Torres

  • News Feature |

    The surprising discovery of methane in Mars's atmosphere could be a sign of life there. Researchers are now working out how to find its source, reports Katharine Sanderson.

    • Katharine Sanderson

  • Letter |

    Type Ic supernovae have drawn attention since 1998 owing to their sparse association with long duration γ-ray bursts (GRBs). Although the GRB central engine generates ultra-relativistic jets, no relativistic outflows have yet been found in type Ib/c supernovae explosions. Here, radio observations reveal a mildly relativistic expansion in a nearby type Ic supernova, SN 2007gr.

    • Z. Paragi
    • , G. B. Taylor
    •  & B. Paczyński

  • Letter |

    Telescopic measurements of asteroids' colours rarely match laboratory reflectance spectra of meteorites owing to a 'space weathering' process that rapidly reddens asteroid surfaces. 'Unweathered' asteroids, however, with spectra matching ordinary chondrite meteorites, are seen only among small bodies with orbits that cross inside the orbits of Mars and Earth. Such unweathered asteroids are now shown to have experienced orbital intersections closer than the Earth–Moon distance within the past half-million years.

    • Richard P. Binzel
    • , Alessandro Morbidelli
    •  & Alan T. Tokunaga

  • News & Views |

    Asteroids are weakly bound piles of rubble, and if one comes close to Earth, tides can cause the object to undergo landslides and structural rearrangement. The outcome of this encounter is a body with meteorite-like colours.

    • Clark R. Chapman

  • Letter |

    The properties of 'dwarf' galaxies have long challenged the cold dark matter (CDM) model of galaxy formation, as the properties of most observed dwarf galaxies contrast with models based on the dominance of CDM. Here, hydrodynamical simulations (assuming the presence of CDM) are reported in which the analogues of dwarf galaxies — bulgeless and with shallow central dark-matter profiles — arise naturally.

    • F. Governato
    • , C. Brook
    •  & P. Madau

  • Letter |

    The close binary Algol system contains a radio-bright KIV sub-giant star in a very close and rapid orbit with a main sequence B8 star. Evidence points to the existence of an extended, complex coronal magnetosphere originating at the cooler K subgiant, but the detailed morphology of the subgiant's corona and its possible interaction with its companion are unknown. Multi-epoch radio imaging of the Algol system now reveals a large coronal loop suggestive of a persistent asymmetric magnetic field structure aligned between the two stars.

    • W. M. Peterson
    • , R. L. Mutel
    •  & W. M. Goss

  • News & Views |

    Windy weather is forecast where stars are forming. Numerical simulations show that these winds can reshape dwarf galaxies, reconciling their properties with the prevailing theory of galaxy formation.

    • Marla Geha

  • Letter |

    The amplitude of the magnetic field near the Galactic Centre has been uncertain by two orders of magnitude for several decades. A compilation of previous data now reveals a downward break in the region's non-thermal radio spectrum; this requires that the Galactic Centre field be at least ∼50 microgauss on 400 parsec scales, with evidence supporting a field of 100 microgauss. This would imply that over 10% of the Galaxy's magnetic energy is contained in only around 0.05% (or less) of its volume.

    • Roland M. Crocker
    • , David I. Jones
    •  & Raymond J. Protheroe

  • Letter |

    Existing models of type Ia supernovae generally explain their observed properties, with the exception of the sub-luminous 1991bg-like supernovae. It has long been suspected that the merger of two white dwarfs could give rise to a type Ia event, but simulations so far have failed to produce an explosion. Here, a simulation of the merger of two equal-mass white dwarfs is presented that leads to a sub-luminous explosion; it requires a single common-envelope phase and component masses of about 0.9 solar masses.

    • Rüdiger Pakmor
    • , Markus Kromer
    •  & Wolfgang Hillebrandt

  • News & Views |

    The progenitors of type Ia supernovae, the standard candles that lit the way to dark energy, have been elusive. A largely dismissed scenario has now produced one, but the results aren't what anyone expected.

    • D. Andrew Howell

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