Is There More to Life than Oxygen?
Astrobites reports on the molecules that might indicate life beyond Earth — and why oxygen might not be the ideal biosignature.
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I SPI with My Little Eye… a Planetary Magnetic Field?
Astrobites reports on a cool star’s ultraviolet variability and explores what this means for the search for planetary magnetic fields.
Cool, Relaxed, but Way Out of Its Lane: The Most Distant Cooling-Flow Galaxy Cluster Yet Observed
Astrobites reports on a galaxy cluster that may have taken only 5 billion years to “relax,” doing so faster than previously thought possible.
Could Spinning Soup Start Starquakes and Explain a Magnetar Mystery?
Astrobites reports on the interiors of neutron stars, where neutrons being crushed into a quark soup center might be the sought-after cause of fast radio bursts.
The Fires Within: Investigating the Atmospheres of Inflated Hot Jupiters
Astrobites reports on simulations of the atmospheres of inflated hot Jupiters that are highly irradiated by their host stars.
A Potential New Character in the Saga of HD 163296
Astrobites reports on an extra protoplanet that might be lurking in the dust around a nearby star.
Giving Stars a Brake
Astrobites reports on how stellar rotation is slowed by stellar winds via magnetic braking, with a special focus on stars cooler than the Sun.
A New Look at Gamma Rays from Our Galaxy’s Next-Door Neighbour
Astrobites reports on a new investigation of the Andromeda Galaxy’s gamma-ray emission that reveals it to be far different from originally thought.
Biases from Bulging Planets
Astrobites reports on what we might be getting wrong by assuming that slightly squished planets are instead perfectly round.
I Know We’ve (NIR)Cam So Far (but We Got So Far to Go)
Astrobites reports on some of the initial instrumentation challenges and solutions for JWST’s Near Infrared Camera.