We have found evidence that the presence of ‘carbon onions’ and other large molecules derived from fullerene could be commonplace in space. These are the most complex molecules detected so far and their discovery has important implications regarding our understanding of circumstellar and interstellar physics and chemisty, as well as of molecular processes in the final stages of stellar evolution. The work also provides new insights into understanding the origin and composition of the so-called diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs), one of the most enigmatic phenomena in astrophysics. Discovered 90 years ago, DIBs are found in every direction in space (more than 400 are known). They are more intense in areas of abundant interstellar dust and are characterized by their absorption of part of the visible light emitted by stars. By examining the optical spectrum of two planetary nebulae, we have found that two known DIBs seemed particularly intense, and that a hitherto unknown band appeared. The observations concur with earlier theoretical studies on large and complex fullerenes (carbon onions or multishell fullerenes such as C60@C240 y C60@C240@C540) and their hypothetical behavior in space. The fullerenes in their multifarious manifestations (carbon onions, fullerene clusters, or even complex species formed by fullerenes and other molecules like hydrocarbons, or atoms) could hold the key to solving the mystery of the DIBs. It has been suspected for some time now that DIBs could be generated by carbon-based molecules. The new study confirms this theory and also identifies a particular class of carbon molecule, complex fullerenes (carbon onions or multishell fullerenes).
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Red dwarfs are the most common stars in the galaxy. In recent years they have become key targets in the search for exoplanets. These stars are usually accompanied by rocky planets and due to their low brightness, their habitable zone is close to the star, making it easier to find planets that are within it. GJ 1002 is a red dwarf just one-eighth the mass of the Sun, located only 15.8 light-years away. Using radial velocity measurements from the ESPRESSO and CARMENES spectrographs, we have discovered the presence of two Earth-like and potentially habitable planets. The planets, GJ 1002 b and
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The cosmic evolution of the barred galaxy population provides key information about the secular evolution of galaxies and the settling of rotationally dominated discs. We study the bar fraction in the SMACSJ0723.37323 (SMACS0723) cluster of galaxies at z = 0.39 using the Early Release Observations obtained with the NIRCam instrument mounted on the JWST telescope. We visually inspected all cluster member galaxies using the images from the NIRCam F200W filter. We classified the galaxies into ellipticals and discs and determine the presence of a bar. The cluster member selection was based on a
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Accretion disks around compact objects are expected to enter an unstable phase at high luminosity. One instability may occur when the radiation pressure generated by accretion modifies the disk viscosity, resulting in the cyclic depletion and refilling of the inner disk on short timescales. Such a scenario, however, has only been quantitatively verified for a single stellar-mass black hole. Although there are hints of these cycles in a few isolated cases, their apparent absence in the variable emission of most bright accreting neutron stars and black holes has been a continuing puzzle. Here
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