The final hybrid map, showing Vesta’s polar regions in the top two views and equatorial regions at the bottom. Click for high-resolution version. [Yingst et al. 2023]
“A Geologic Map of Vesta Produced Using a Hybrid Method for Incorporating Spectroscopic and Morphologic Data,” R. Aileen Yingst et al 2023 Planet. Sci. J. 4 157. doi:10.3847/PSJ/acebe9
As the light from a distant galaxy travels toward us, it sometimes encounters a region of spacetime warped by a massive galaxy in its path. If the alignment between the foreground galaxy and the background galaxy is just right, we’re treated to a spectacular sight: multiple images of the background galaxy arrayed around the foreground galaxy — a phenomenon called gravitational lensing. If the foreground galaxy is elliptical, the images of the background galaxy form a cross known as an Einstein Cross, as is the case with a system newly confirmed by Aleksandar Cikota (Gemini Observatory/NSF’s NOIRLab) and collaborators. To confirm the gravitationally lensed nature of the system, the team demonstrated via spectroscopy that the four images were of the same galaxy. The golden central galaxy is an elliptical behemoth whose light has been traveling to us for nearly 6 billion years, while the lensed starburst galaxy is far more distant, giving us a glimpse of when the universe was just 18.5% of its current age. To learn more about this new addition to the short list of known Einstein Crosses, be sure to check out the full article linked below.
“DESI-253.2534+26.8843: A New Einstein Cross Spectroscopically Confirmed with Very Large Telescope/MUSE and Modeled with GIGA-Lens,” Aleksandar Cikota et al 2023 ApJL 953 L5. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ace9da
Simulated radio intensity of jets at various viewing angles. Click for high-resolution version. [Nolting et al. 2023]
The team’s simulations are animated here, showing how the shapes of the radio jets change with time as well as with the viewing angle.
“Simulations of Precessing Jets and the Formation of X-shaped Radio Galaxies,” Chris Nolting et al 2023 ApJ 948 25. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/acc652
Though the ultra-thin galaxy UGC 11859 looks perfectly flat in the image above, close analysis has revealed warps and flares in its disk. These imperfections provide clues to the galaxy’s history, as the imprints of past gravitational interactions take billions of years to fade from the disk’s faint outer regions. Luis Ossa-Fuentes (University of Valparaíso and Valencian International University) and collaborators observed UGC 11859 with the 10.4-meter Gran Telescopio Canarias, aiming to study the galaxy’s structure. They found that the galaxy’s brightness doesn’t decrease smoothly from its center to its outskirts, but instead drops off suddenly about 78,000 light-years from the center. On top of that, the left side of the galaxy is tipped upward, and the distribution of stars flares out above and below the plane of the galaxy toward either side. While it remains to be seen if these features are related, it’s clear that there’s more to this galaxy than meets the eye. To learn more about the subtle structure of UGC 11859, be sure to check out the full article linked below.
“Flares, Warps, Truncations, and Satellite: The Ultra-thin Galaxy UGC 11859,” Luis Ossa-Fuentes et al 2023 ApJ 951 149. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/acd54c
Representative-color gravitational wave images of the Milky Way created with simulated data from LISA (top) and AMIGO (bottom). Click to enlarge. [Szekerczes et al. 2023]
“Imaging the Milky Way with Millihertz Gravitational Waves,” Kaitlyn Szekerczes et al 2023 AJ 166 17. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/acd3f1
Top: H-alpha image of a segment of the supernova remnant in 2001. The numbers along the top indicate the proper motion, in milliarcseconds per year, of that section of the shock front. Bottom: H-alpha images from 2020 (red) and 2001 (cyan). Click to enlarge. [Sankrit et al. 2023]
“Third Epoch HST Imaging of a Nonradiative Shock in the Cygnus Loop Supernova Remnant,” Ravi Sankrit et al 2023 ApJ 948 97. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/acc860
To track down galaxies in the early universe, astronomers search for Lyman-alpha emission, which is generated by electrons in hydrogen atoms sliding down to their lowest energy level. Although this method is commonly used to find galaxies, it can be difficult to link the properties of the Lyman-alpha emission to those of the galaxy because the photons are are absorbed, scattered, and re-emitted as they travel from their birthplaces in the surroundings of hot, young stars to our telescopes. To understand how Lyman-alpha emission reflects the properties of distant galaxies, Jens Melinder (Stockholm University) and collaborators surveyed Lyman-alpha-emitting galaxies in the nearby universe. The team observed 45 nearby galaxies with the Hubble Space Telescope and used models to determine their properties. The images above show one galaxy from the sample in two ways: the left-hand image shows the stellar continuum emission captured by Hubble’s broad filters, while the right-hand image shows a combination of ultraviolet stellar emission and narrow emission lines (including Lyman alpha in blue) from glowing hydrogen gas. Using these observations, the team determined that the dustier the galaxy, the less Lyman-alpha emission makes it to our telescopes, and the same may be true for galaxies containing more stars. To learn more about the results of this survey, be sure to read the full article linked below.
“The Lyα Reference Sample. XIV. Lyα Imaging of 45 Low-redshift Star-forming Galaxies and Inferences on Global Emission,” Jens Melinder et al 2023 ApJS 266 15. doi:10.3847/1538-4365/acc2b8
We know that the supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies can ensnare nearby gas and consume it; we see the doomed gas glow brightly as it advances toward the black hole. But exactly how a black hole’s meal makes its way toward the waiting gravitational maw isn’t clear. Are small gas clumps plucked at random from larger gas clouds, or does gas assemble into an orderly disk before falling into the black hole? In a recent research article, a team led by Minghao Guo (郭明浩) from Princeton University used fluid dynamics simulations to explore how gas accretes onto the supermassive black hole at the center of the massive elliptical galaxy Messier 87. The images above each show a region 6,500 light-years across that is centered on the supermassive black hole, with a zoomed-in 650-light-year region shown in the corner. The images show the two main pathways of cold gas accretion: chaotic accretion (left), which occurs only 10% of the time, and disk accretion (right), which is the dominant way for cold gas to be accreted. To learn more about the dynamics of gas accretion near a black hole, be sure to read the full article linked below.
“Toward Horizon-scale Accretion onto Supermassive Black Holes in Elliptical Galaxies,” Minghao Guo et al 2023 ApJ 946 26. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/acb81e
Cosmic dust makes up just a small fraction of a galaxy’s mass, but it provides a useful way to study the interstellar medium: the gas and dust from which new stars and planets form. Using maps created from Herschel Space Telescope data presented in an earlier article, a collaboration led by Christopher Clark (Space Telescope Science Institute) studied the dust in the Large Magellanic Cloud, the Small Magellanic Cloud, the Andromeda Galaxy, and the Triangulum Galaxy (from left to right; not to scale). The three-color images above show hydrogen gas (red), cool dust (green), and warm dust (blue), highlighting how the dust density and temperature varies from galaxy to galaxy. The team used the new maps to study the galaxies’ dust-to-gas ratio — an important descriptor of the interstellar medium — and found that the ratio increased as the density of the interstellar medium increased. This trend might suggest that dust grains can bulk up more readily by nabbing material from the surrounding gas when the interstellar medium is denser. To learn more about the evolution of dust in our neighboring galaxies, be sure to check out the full article linked below.
“The Quest for the Missing Dust. II. Two Orders of Magnitude of Evolution in the Dust-to-gas Ratio Resolved within Local Group Galaxies,” Christopher J. R. Clark et al 2023 ApJ 946 42. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/acbb66
When a massive star ends its life in a supernova explosion, it can leave behind a tiny, dense remnant called a neutron star. Sometimes, two neutron stars end up locked in a gravitational embrace, emitting gravitational waves as they dance toward each other over millions of years. When the pair finally meets, their collision lights up the electromagnetic spectrum and creates heavy elements like gold and platinum. In a recent research article, Luciano Combi (Argentine Institute of Radio Astronomy, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, and University of Guelph) and Daniel Siegel (Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Guelph, and University of Greifswald) simulated the nuclear reactions and electromagnetic radiation produced after the merger of a pair of neutron stars. The image above illustrates four stages of their simulation, from the moment before the neutron stars meet, when their mutual gravity stretches them into teardrop shapes, to the merger aftermath, when an accretion disk feeds the sole remaining star. To learn more about the simulations described above, be sure to check out the full article linked below!
“GRMHD Simulations of Neutron-star Mergers with Weak Interactions: r-process Nucleosynthesis and Electromagnetic Signatures of Dynamical Ejecta,” Luciano Combi and Daniel M. Siegel 2023 ApJ 944 28. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/acac29