Two LSST white paper are led by INAF-OAPA astronomers

LSST (Large Synoptic Survey Telescope) is the future of the astronomy in the time domain. LSST is a new-generation telescope that will be built on Cerro Pachon in Chile (2700 meters). It will be equipped with a primary mirror of 8.4 meters of diameter and an innovative camera able to observe an very large field of view, more than 49

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Multi-band observations of stellar flares. the study: “A multi-wavelength view of magnetic flaring from PMS stars” of E. Flaccomio (Inaf – OAPA) recently published by A&A

Most of the stars, mainly the low mass stars, produce their own magnetic field in their interior. The interaction between the magnetic field and stellar plasma is the cause of phenomena such as photosperic spots, faculae, protuberances, coronal mass ejections, and flares. The study of this activity is important both because it reveals how intense magnetic fields interact with high-temperature

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Radiation and abundances of organic compounds in planets-forming disks. The study: “X-Ray Photo-desorption of H2O:CO:NH3 Circumstellar Ice Analogs: Gas-phase Enrichment” of A. Jiménez-Escobar (Inaf-OAPA) published in ApJ

From the large number of exoplanets discovered by missions such as Kepler and CoRoT, it is clear that the presence of planets is a common feature in stars of our Galaxy. In particular, it has been estimated that on average each low mass star has one planet. Planets formation is thus an ubiquitous phenomenon across the Milky Way. It is

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X-rays from Cygnus. The paper: “X-ray spectral characterization of the young Cygnus OB2 population” of E. Flaccomio (INAF-OAPA) accepted for publication by ApJS

OB associations are objects of great importance, since they contain a rich population of OB stars. Despite their paucity, OB stars have a strong impact on the evolution of their parental clouds, nearby stars, and the whole Galaxy. For instance, their intense UV emission affects the evolution of the parental cloud and the star formation process in it, sometimes triggering

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Artificial Intelligence applied to astrophysics. The paper “ExoGAN: Retrieving Exoplanetary Atmospheres Using Deep Convolutional Generative Adversarial Networks” of T. Zingales (UCL, INAF – OAPA) published on AJ

In the last few years, many space missions and ground-based surveys, discovered more than 4000 exoplanets, especially using the transit and radial velocity methods. These two methods combined, give us a first estimation of the bulk density of the planets. In order to have a deeper understanding on the planetary characteristics and history, we also need to study their atmospheres.

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Recently published on ApJ the study “Investigating the Structure of Vela X” of P. Slane (CfA) on the morphology of the Vela supernova remnant

What remains after a supernova explosion, which is among the most energetic phenomena in the Universe, is an expanding cloud interacting with the surrounding interstellar medium (the “supernova remnants”) and a compact object produced by the contraction of the nucleus of the progenitor star. Given its proximity to the Sun (“only” 945 light years), the Vela supernova remnant is one

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The formation of the prebiotic molecules in space. The study: “Dust Motions in Magnetized Turbulence: Source of Chemical Complexity” of G. Cassone (Czech Academy of Sciences) published on ApJL

One of the big and so far unsolved mysteries regarding the origin of life is what are the processes leading to the formation of its fundamental components: aminoacids and their precursors. In the past years several aminoacids have been detected in meteorites. This supports the hypothesis that life could have developed on Earth thanks to complex molecules formed in space.

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The chemical evolution of the Milky Way unveiled by GES. The study “The Gaia-ESO Survey: the origin and evolution of s-process elements” of L. Magrini (INAF – OA Arcetri) published in Astronomy & Astrophysics

The study of the chemical abundances of stars with different age and position in the Milky Way provide crucial information on the formation and evolution of our Galaxy. In particular, heavy elements (i.e. those with the atomic number Z > 30) are produced by the successive capture of neutrons by lighter elements. This occurs by two processes, the slow s-process

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