| 1. |
- Fayolle, E. C., et al.
(författare)
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Protostellar and cometary detections of organohalogens
- 2017
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Ingår i: Nature Astronomy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-3366. ; 1:10, s. 703-708
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Organohalogens, a class of molecules that contain at least one halogen atom bonded to carbon, are abundant on the Earth where they are mainly produced through industrial and biological processes(1). Consequently, they have been proposed as biomarkers in the search for life on exoplanets(2). Simple halogen hydrides have been detected in interstellar sources and in comets, but the presence and possible incorporation of more complex halogen-containing molecules such as organohalogens into planet-forming regions is uncertain(3,4). Here we report the interstellar detection of two isotopologues of the organohalogen CH3Cl and put some constraints on CH3F in the gas surrounding the low-mass protostar IRAS 16293-2422, using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). We also find CH3Cl in the coma of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P/C-G) by using the Rosetta Orbiter Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis (ROSINA) instrument. The detections reveal an efficient pre-planetary formation pathway of organohalogens. Cometary impacts may deliver these species to young planets and should thus be included as a potential abiotical production source when interpreting future organohalogen detections in atmospheres of rocky planets.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Kankare, E., et al.
(författare)
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A population of highly energetic transient events in the centres of active galaxies
- 2017
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Ingår i: Nature Astronomy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-3366. ; 1:12, s. 865-871
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recent all-sky surveys have led to the discovery of new types of transients. These include stars disrupted by the central supermassive black hole, and supernovae that are 10-100 times more energetic than typical ones. However, the nature of even more energetic transients that apparently occur in the innermost regions of their host galaxies is hotly debated1-3. Here we report the discovery of the most energetic of these to date: PS1-10adi, with a total radiated energy of similar to 2.3 x 10(52) erg. The slow evolution of its light curve and persistently narrow spectral lines over similar to 3 yr are inconsistent with known types of recurring black hole variability. The observed properties imply powering by shock interaction between expanding material and large quantities of surrounding dense matter. Plausible sources of this expanding material are a star that has been tidally disrupted by the central black hole, or a supernova. Both could satisfy the energy budget. For the former, we would be forced to invoke a new and hitherto unseen variant of a tidally disrupted star, while a supernova origin relies principally on environmental effects resulting from its nuclear location. Remarkably, we also discover that PS1-10adi is not an isolated case. We therefore surmise that this new population of transients has previously been overlooked due to incorrect association with underlying central black hole activity.
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| 4. |
- Pajola, M., et al.
(författare)
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The pristine interior of comet 67P revealed by the combined Aswan outburst and cliff collapse
- 2017
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Ingår i: Nature Astronomy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-3366. ; 1:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Outbursts occur commonly on comets(1) with different frequencies and scales(2,3). Despite multiple observations suggesting various triggering processes(4,5), the driving mechanism of such outbursts is still poorly understood. Landslides have been invoked(6) to explain some outbursts on comet 103P/Hartley (2), although the process required a pre-existing dust layer on the verge of failure. The Rosetta mission observed several outbursts from its target comet 67P/ChuryumovGerasimenko, which were attributed to dust generated by the crumbling of materials from collapsing cliffs(7,8). However, none of the aforementioned works included definitive evidence that landslides occur on comets. Amongst the many features observed by Rosetta on the nucleus of the comet, one peculiar fracture, 70 m long and 1 m wide, was identified on images obtained in September 2014 at the edge of a cliff named Aswan(9). On 10 July 2015, the Rosetta Navigation Camera captured a large plume of dust that could be traced back to an area encompassing the Aswan escarpment(7). Five days later, the OSIRIS camera observed a fresh, sharp and bright edge on the Aswan cliff. Here we report the first unambiguous link between an outburst and a cliff collapse on a comet. We establish a new dust-plume formation mechanism that does not necessarily require the breakup of pressurized crust or the presence of supervolatile material, as suggested by previous studies(7). Moreover, the collapse revealed the fresh icy interior of the comet, which is characterized by an albedo > 0.4, and provided the opportunity to study how the crumbling wall settled down to form a new talus.
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| 5. |
- Shulyak, D., et al.
(författare)
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Strong dipole magnetic fields in fast rotating fully convective stars
- 2017
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Ingår i: Nature Astronomy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-3366. ; 1:8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- M dwarfs are the most numerous stars in our Galaxy, with masses between approximately 0.5 and 0.1 solar masses. Many of them show surface activity qualitatively similar to our Sun and generate flares, high X-ray fluxes and largescale magnetic fields(1-4). Such activity is driven by a dynamo powered by the convective motions in their interiors(2),(5-8). Understanding properties of stellar magnetic fields in these stars finds a broad application in astrophysics, including theory of stellar dynamos and environment conditions around planets that may be orbiting these stars. Most stars with convective envelopes follow a rotation-activity relationship where various activity indicators saturate in stars with rotation periods shorter than a few days(2,6,8). The activity gradually declines with rotation rate in stars rotating more slowly. It is thought that, due to a tight empirical correlation between X-ray radiance and magnetic flux(9), the stellar magnetic fields will also saturate, to values around 4kG (ref. (10)). Here we report the detection of magnetic fields above the presumed saturation limit in four fully convective M dwarfs. By combining results from spectroscopic and polarimetric studies, we explain our findings in terms of bistable dynamo models(11,12):stars with the strongest magnetic fields are those in a dipole dynamo state, whereas stars in a multipole state cannot generate fields stronger than about 4kG. Our study provides observational evidence that the dynamo in fully convective M dwarfs generates magnetic fields that can differ not only in the geometry of their large-scale component, but also in the total magnetic energy.
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| 6. |
- Terreran, G., et al.
(författare)
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Hydrogen-rich supernovae beyond the neutrino-driven core-collapse paradigm
- 2017
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Ingår i: Nature Astronomy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-3366. ; 1:10, s. 713-720
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Type II supernovae are the final stage of massive stars (above 8 M-circle dot) which retain part of their hydrogen-rich envelope at the moment of explosion. They typically eject up to 15 M-circle dot of material, with peak magnitudes of -17.5 mag and energies in the order of 10(51) erg, which can be explained by neutrino-driven explosions and neutron star formation. Here, we present our study of OGLE-2014-SN-073, one of the brightest type II supernovae ever discovered, with an unusually broad lightcurve combined with high ejecta velocities. From our hydrodynamical modelling, we infer a remarkable ejecta mass of 60(-16)(+42) M-circle dot and a relatively high explosion energy of 12.4(-5.9)(+13.0) x 10(51) erg. We show that this object belongs, along with a very small number of other hydrogen-rich supernovae, to an energy regime that is not explained by standard core-collapse neutrino-driven explosions. We compare the quantities inferred by the hydrodynamical modelling with the expectations of various exploding scenarios and attempt to explain the high energy and luminosity released. We find some qualitative similarities with pair-instability supernovae, although the prompt injection of energy by a magnetar seems to be a viable alternative explanation for such an extreme event.
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| 7. |
- Vlemmings, Wouter, 1974, et al.
(författare)
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The shock-heated atmosphere of an asymptotic giant branch star resolved by ALMA
- 2017
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Ingår i: Nature Astronomy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-3366. ; 1:12, s. 848-853
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Our current understanding of the chemistry and mass-loss processes in Sun-like stars at the end of their evolution depends critically on the description of convection, pulsations and shocks in the extended stellar atmosphere 1 . Three-dimensional hydrodynamical stellar atmosphere models provide observational predictions 2 , but so far the resolution to constrain the complex temperature and velocity structures seen in the models has been lacking. Here we present submillimetre continuum and line observations that resolve the atmosphere of the asymptotic giant branch star W Hydrae. We show that hot gas with chromospheric characteristics exists around the star. Its filling factor is shown to be small. The existence of such gas requires shocks with a cooling time longer than commonly assumed. A shocked hot layer will be an important ingredient in current models of stellar convection, pulsation and chemistry at the late stages of stellar evolution.
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