| 1. |
- Anderson, P., et al.
(författare)
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The lowest-metallicity type II supernova from the highest-mass red supergiant progenitor
- 2018
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Ingår i: Nature Astronomy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-3366. ; 2:7, s. 574-579
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Red supergiants have been confirmed as the progenitor stars of the majority of hydrogen-rich type II supernovae(1). However, while such stars are observed with masses > 25 M-circle dot (ref. (2)), detections of > 18 M-circle dot progenitors remain elusive(1). Red supergiants are also expected to form at all metallicities, but discoveries of explosions from low-metallicity progenitors are scarce. Here, we report observations of the type II supernova, SN 2015bs, for which we infer a progenitor metallicity of <= 0.1 Z(circle dot) from comparison to photospheric-phase spectral models(3), and a zero-age main-sequence mass of 17-25 M-circle dot through comparison to nebular-phase spectral models(4,5). SN 2015bs displays a normal 'plateau' light-curve morphology, and typical spectral properties, implying a red supergiant progenitor. This is the first example of such a high-mass progenitor for a 'normal' type II supernova, suggesting a link between high-mass red supergiant explosions and low-metallicity progenitors.
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| 2. |
- Battersby, C., et al.
(författare)
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The Origins Space Telescope
- 2018
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Ingår i: Nature Astronomy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-3366. ; 2:8, s. 596-599
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The Origins Space Telescope, one of four large Mission Concept Studies sponsored by NASA for review in the 2020 US Astrophysics Decadal Survey, will open unprecedented discovery space in the infrared, unveiling our cosmic origins.
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| 3. |
- Chauvin, Maxime, et al.
(författare)
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Accretion geometry of the black-hole binary Cygnus X-1 from X-ray polarimetry
- 2018
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Ingår i: Nature Astronomy. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 2397-3366. ; 2:8, s. 652-655
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Black hole binary (BHB) systems comprise a stellar-mass black hole and a closely orbiting companion star. Matter is transferred from the companion to the black hole, forming an accretion disk, corona and jet structures. The resulting release of gravitational energy leads to the emission of X-rays1. The radiation is affected by special/general relativistic effects, and can serve as a probe for the properties of the black hole and surrounding environment, if the accretion geometry is properly identified. Two competing models describe the disk–corona geometry for the hard spectral state of BHBs, based on spectral and timing measurements2,3. Measuring the polarization of hard X-rays reflected from the disk allows the geometry to be determined. The extent of the corona differs between the two models, affecting the strength of the relativistic effects (such as enhancement of the polarization fraction and rotation of the polarization angle). Here, we report observational results on the linear polarization of hard X-ray emission (19–181 keV) from a BHB, Cygnus X-14, in the hard state. The low polarization fraction, <8.6% (upper limit at a 90% confidence level), and the alignment of the polarization angle with the jet axis show that the dominant emission is not influenced by strong gravity. When considered together with existing spectral and timing data, our result reveals that the accretion corona is either an extended structure, or is located far from the black hole in the hard state of Cygnus X-1.
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| 4. |
- Harsono, D., et al.
(författare)
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Evidence for the start of planet formation in a young circumstellar disk
- 2018
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Ingår i: Nature Astronomy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-3366. ; 2:8, s. 646-651
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- © 2018, The Author(s). The growth of dust grains in protoplanetary disks is a necessary first step towards planet formation1. This growth has been inferred from observations of thermal dust emission2towards mature protoplanetary systems (age >2 million years) with masses that are, on average, similar to Neptune3. In contrast, the majority of confirmed exoplanets are heavier than Neptune4. Given that young protoplanetary disks are more massive than their mature counterparts, this suggests that planet formation starts early, but evidence for grain growth that is spatially and temporally coincident with a massive reservoir in young disks remains scarce. Here, we report observations on a lack of emission of carbon monoxide isotopologues within the inner ~15 au of a very young (age ~100,000 years) disk around the solar-type protostar TMC1A. By using the absence of spatially resolved molecular line emission to infer the gas and dust content of the disk, we conclude that shielding by millimetre-size grains is responsible for the lack of emission. This suggests that grain growth and millimetre-size dust grains can be spatially and temporally coincident with a mass reservoir sufficient for giant planet formation. Hence, planet formation starts during the earliest, embedded phases in the life of young stars.
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| 5. |
- Lankhaar, Boy, 1991, et al.
(författare)
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Characterization of methanol as a magnetic field tracer in star-forming regions
- 2018
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Ingår i: Nature Astronomy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-3366. ; 2, s. 145-150
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Magnetic fields play an important role during star formation1. Direct magnetic field strength observations have proven particularly challenging in the extremely dynamic protostellar phase2,3,4. Because of their occurrence in the densest parts of star-forming regions, masers, through polarization observations, are the main source of magnetic field strength and morphology measurements around protostars2. Of all maser species, methanol is one of the strongest and most abundant tracers of gas around high-mass protostellar disks and in outflows. However, as experimental determination of the magnetic characteristics of methanol has remained largely unsuccessful5, a robust magnetic field strength analysis of these regions could hitherto not be performed. Here, we report a quantitative theoretical model of the magnetic properties of methanol, including the complicated hyperfine structure that results from its internal rotation6. We show that the large range in values of the Landé g factors of the hyperfine components of each maser line lead to conclusions that differ substantially from the current interpretation based on a single effective g factor. These conclusions are more consistent with other observations7,8 and confirm the presence of dynamically important magnetic fields around protostars. Additionally, our calculations show that (nonlinear) Zeeman effects must be taken into account to further enhance the accuracy of cosmological electron-to-proton mass ratio determinations using methanol9,10,11,12.
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| 6. |
- Lunnan, Ragnhild, et al.
(författare)
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A UV resonance line echo from a shell around a hydrogen-poor superluminous supernova
- 2018
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Ingår i: Nature Astronomy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-3366. ; 2:11, s. 887-895
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Hydrogen-poor superluminous supernovae (SLSN-I) are a class of rare and energetic explosions that have been discovered in untargeted transient surveys in the past decade(1,2). The progenitor stars and the physical mechanism behind their large radiated energies (about 1O(51) erg or 1O(44) J) are both debated, with one class of models primarily requiring a large rotational energy(3,4) and the other requiring very massive progenitors that either convert kinetic energy into radiation through interaction with circumstellar material (CSM)(5-8 )or engender an explosion caused by pair-instability (loss of photon pressure due to particle-antiparticle production)(9,10). Observing the structure of the CSM around SLSN-I offers a powerful test of some scenarios, although direct observations are scarce(11,)(12). Here, we present a series of spectroscopic observations of the SLSN-I iPTF16eh, which reveal both absorption and time- and frequency-variable emission in the Mg n resonance doublet. We show that these observations are naturally explained as a resonance scattering light echo from a circumstellar shell. Modelling the evolution of the emission, we infer a shell radius of 0.1 pc and velocity of 3,300 km s(-1), implying that the shell was ejected three decades before the supernova explosion. These properties match theoretical predictions of shell ejections occurring because of pulsational pair-instability and imply that the progenitor had a helium core mass of about 50-55 M-circle dot, corresponding to an initial mass of about 115 M-circle dot.
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| 7. |
- Lyman, J. D., et al.
(författare)
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The optical afterglow of the short gamma-ray burst associated with GW170817
- 2018
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Ingår i: Nature Astronomy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-3366. ; 2:9, s. 751-754
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The binary neutron star merger GW170817 was the first multi-messenger event observed in both gravitational and electromagnetic waves(1,2). The electromagnetic signal began approximately two seconds post-merger with a weak, short burst of gamma rays(3), which was followed over the next hours and days by the ultraviolet, optical and near-infrared emission from a radioactively powered kilonova(4-11). Later, non-thermal rising X-ray and radio emission was observed(12,13). The low luminosity of the gamma rays and the rising non-thermal flux from the source at late times could indicate that we are outside the opening angle of the beamed relativistic jet. Alternatively, the emission could be arising from a cocoon of material formed from the interaction between a jet and the merger ejecta(13-15). Here we present late-time optical detections and deep near-infrared limits on the emission from GW170817 at 110 days post-merger. Our new observations are at odds with expectations of late-time emission from kilonova models, being too bright and blue(16,17). Instead, the emission arises from the interaction between the relativistic ejecta of GW170817 and the interstellar medium. We show that this emission matches the expectations of a Gaussian-structured relativistic jet, which would have launched a high-luminosity, short gamma-ray burst to an aligned observer. However, other jet structure or cocoon models can also match current data-the future evolution of the afterglow will directly distinguish the origin of the emission.
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| 8. |
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