Stellar Cartography Archives

a,b, The 13 M⊙ CC supernova in the 1.1 × 106 M⊙ halo 1.2 Myr after the explosion (a) and the 200 M⊙ PI supernova in the 2.2 × 107 M⊙ halo 0.7 Myr after the explosion (b) (images are 1 kpc on a side). The relic H ii regions of the stars are visible as the 2,000–10,000 K gas, and the CC and PI ejecta are visible as the 104 and 105 K shocked gas with radii of ~50 and 100 pc, respectively. At the end of the simulations, both supernova remnants are still trapped within their respective H ii regions. -- Nature

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Stellar Cartography

Abundant Water From Primordial Supernovae At Cosmic Dawn

by Keith CowingMarch 5, 2025March 5, 2025

Primordial (or population III) supernovae were the first nucleosynthetic engines in the Universe, and they forged the heavy elements required for the later formation of planets and life. Water, in […]

The echelle diagrams of host stars Kpeler-643, the orange and red dots represent νn,0 and νn,2 identified by PBjam. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Stellar Cartography

Comprehensive Parameter Determination of Exoplanet through Asteroseismic Host Star Constraints

by Keith CowingMarch 3, 2025March 3, 2025

This study develops a robust framework for exoplanet characterization by leveraging asteroseismic constraints on host stars.

Zoom into the FU Ori binary system and the newly discovered accretion streamer. This artist's impression shows the newly discovered streamer constantly feeding mass from the envelope into the binary system. Image credit: NSF/NRAO/S. Dagnello larger image

Astronomy & Telescopes, Press Release, Stellar Cartography

Orion’s Erupting Star System Reveals Its Secrets

by Keith CowingFebruary 24, 2025September 18, 2025

An unusual group of stars in the Orion constellation have revealed their secrets. FU Orionis, a double star system, first caught astronomers’ attention in 1936 when the central star suddenly […]

Planetary occurrence statistic. Colours in the background refer to the detection limit map, from the non-reachable region (grey) to the unmissable one (white). The grey points represent the considered detections while the red points represent the candidates. The grey horizontal and vertical lines delineate the probed domains. The computed occurrence rates (along with their corresponding statistical bounds) are indicated at the center of each domain. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Stellar Cartography

Radial Velocity Homogeneous Analysis of M Dwarfs Observed With HARPS. II. Detection limits and Planetary Occurrence Statistics

by Keith CowingFebruary 23, 2025

We re-determine planetary occurrences around M dwarfs using 20 years of observations from HARPS on 197 targets.

The crew of the Enterprise vies a map of the Sigma Draconis system and its three Class M planets - "Spock's Brain" - Paramount/CBS.

Astronomy & Telescopes, Brown Dwarfs, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History, Science Fiction, Status Report, Stellar Cartography, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Architecture Classification For Extrasolar Planetary Systems

by Keith CowingFebruary 22, 2025February 22, 2025

This paper presents a classification framework for the architectures of planetary systems based on a complete survey of the confirmed exoplanet population.

TESS target pixel files for sector 6 tpfplotter (Aller et al. 2020; the code is publicly available at www.github.com/jlillo/tpfplotter). Orange squares identify the aperture masks used to extract the light curve. Sources cross-matched with the Gaia DR3 catalog are indicated by red dots, whose sizes are scaled with their relative magnitude, compared to that of TOI-512. The pixel scale is 21′′ pixel−1

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Status Report, Stellar Cartography

TOI-512: Super-Earth Transiting a K-type Star Discovered by TESS and ESPRESSO

by Keith CowingFebruary 21, 2025February 21, 2025

One of the goals of the ESPRESSO guaranteed time observations (GTOs) at the ESO 8.2m telescope is to follow up on candidate planets from transit surveys such as the TESS […]

Radius of observed planetesimal belts as a function of host star luminosity (black and white points with error bars). The white shaded region represents the ±1σ range of power laws (about the best fit) allowed by the data, including the intrinsic scatter as well as the uncertainty in the observed radii. The background colour map represents the selection probability (%), or percentage of belts that would pass the selection effects at a given [R-L⋆] location, assuming unobserved belts have the same distribution of parameters [d,RBB/R, M, λ0, β] as the observed population. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Status Report, Stellar Cartography

REsolved ALMA and SMA Observations of Nearby Stars (REASONS): A Population of 74 Resolved Planetesimal Belts at Millimetre Wavelengths

by Keith CowingFebruary 19, 2025February 19, 2025

Planetesimal belts are ubiquitous around nearby stars, and their spatial properties hold crucial information for planetesimal and planet formation models. We present resolved dust observations of 74 planetary systems as […]

Distance distribution of the sample. In green is the distribution of our reference catalogue for different declination limits. In orange is the distance distribution of the M dwarfs with HARPS measurements. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Stellar Cartography

Radial Velocity Homogeneous Analysis of M Dwarfs Observed With HARPS. I. Exoplanet Detection and Candidates

by Keith CowingFebruary 19, 2025February 19, 2025

The census of planets around M dwarfs in the solar neighbourhood meets two challenges: detecting the best targets for the future characterisation of planets with ELTs, and studying the statistics […]

Top row: Final semi-major axes and planet masses for the planet population after disc dissipation. The color denotes the final atmosphere mass fraction. The dashed lines show the pebble isolation mass at the start and end of the disc lifetime; the variation is due to the temporal change of the stellar luminosity. Bottom row: Atmosphere mass fraction as a function of core masses. The colors of the points show the injection location in the disc. In the left column we show the the population when gas accretion at the inner edge is halted. In the middle column we show the population when gas accretion continues at the inner edge while in the right column we show the planet population when we vary the inner edge. In general, atmosphere mass fractions for massive cores are similar in all three models. If gas accretion is halted at the inner edge, atmosphere mass fractions are low (up to ∼0.1-5%) due to the efficient migration happening in the disc. When gas accretion continues at the inner edge, the atmosphere mass fractions of the smallest cores can reach up to 1%. Finally, when varying the inner edge, planets that are accreting gas further away from the star are able to accrete more gas due to more efficient contraction, reaching atmosphere mass fractions of almost ∼10%. -- astro-ph.EP

Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Stellar Cartography, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

A Primordial Radius Valley As A Consequence Of Planet Formation

by Keith CowingFebruary 18, 2025

The radius distribution of close-in planets has been observed to have a bimodal distribution with a dearth of planets around ~1.5-2.0 R⊕ commonly referred to as the ”radius valley”.

Heatmaps of the NEID Solar RV measurements over time. The x-axis represents the 330 days with measurements (in order, but not scaled by time). The black vertical line is at the day when the detector was shut off due to a forest fire and subsequently brought back online. The top subplot displays the unadjusted distribution of RVs for each line (note that around 4% of the observations fall outside the limits of this plot). The bottom subplot displays the RVs that have been centered by line and by the temporal group (note that around 2% of the observations fall outside the limits of this plot). The colors indicate the number of RV measurements from absorption lines within each bin (orange = fewer lines, blue = more lines). Bins are vertical so that there is no overlap between days. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Stellar Cartography

Searching for Low-Mass Exoplanets Amid Stellar Variability with a Fixed Effects Linear Model of Line-by-Line Shape Changes

by Keith CowingFebruary 18, 2025

The radial velocity (RV) method, also known as Doppler spectroscopy, is a powerful technique for exoplanet discovery and characterization. In recent years, progress has been made thanks to the improvements […]

Stellar Cartography

Abundant Water From Primordial Supernovae At Cosmic Dawn

Comprehensive Parameter Determination of Exoplanet through Asteroseismic Host Star Constraints

Orion’s Erupting Star System Reveals Its Secrets

Radial Velocity Homogeneous Analysis of M Dwarfs Observed With HARPS. II. Detection limits and Planetary Occurrence Statistics

Architecture Classification For Extrasolar Planetary Systems

TOI-512: Super-Earth Transiting a K-type Star Discovered by TESS and ESPRESSO

REsolved ALMA and SMA Observations of Nearby Stars (REASONS): A Population of 74 Resolved Planetesimal Belts at Millimetre Wavelengths

Radial Velocity Homogeneous Analysis of M Dwarfs Observed With HARPS. I. Exoplanet Detection and Candidates

A Primordial Radius Valley As A Consequence Of Planet Formation

Searching for Low-Mass Exoplanets Amid Stellar Variability with a Fixed Effects Linear Model of Line-by-Line Shape Changes

Astrobiologist Dale Andersen’s Antarctic Field Report: Preview: Fall 2026 Lake Untersee Field Season

Excess Oxygen Stored In Deep Earth Magma May Help Explain How Earth’s Atmosphere Became Oxygen-rich

Using Nuclear Technology To Change How We Explore Icy Ocean Worlds: Examples From Nuclear Powered Mission Concept Designs

Radiation Limits On Amino Acid Preservation And Chiral Measurement At Oxia Planum

Tree of Life Program Targets Publication Of 200 Genome Notes Per Month