The James Webb Space Telescope, the flagship observatory of NASA/ESA/CSA, has turned its gaze toward the supernova remnant SN 1987A, revealing its structure with an unprecedented level of detail. About 400 years after Kepler supernova, which exploded in 1604, the skies of the southern hemisphere witnessed another supernova relatively close to us. This was SN 1987A, which exploded on
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A new theoretical study shows that the filamentary structure observed in the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A (Cas A) is a direct consequence of the processes that occurred in the progenitor star immediately after core collapse. Supernovae are among the most energetic explosive events in the Universe. Yet, despite their immense brightness, they convert only about 1% of their energy
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There are many lessons about the physics of supernova remnants and progenitor stars that the Cassiopeia A (Cas A) supernova remnant teaches us. For example, we have learned that both the supernova explosion and the mass-loss episodes that characterize the final evolutionary stages of the progenitor star can be highly asymmetric. We have come to understand that supernovae can play
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The star-forming regions can differ significantly from one another, particularly in terms of the population of massive stars (with masses exceeding about 10 solar masses) and stellar density (defined as the number of stars per unit volume). These aspects can vary drastically from one region to another. Such differences are extremely important, as massive stars create environments dominated by high-energy
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One of the lessons we have learned after two decades of exoplanetary science, primarily from the diversity of exoplanets discovered to date, is that various properties of exoplanets depend on the characteristics and evolution of their parent stars. Specifically, stellar X-ray and UV radiation can impact the chemical and physical properties of planetary atmospheres. While UV radiation is primarily absorbed
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The formation of stars and planets results from the complex interplay of various factors and agents: the collapse of the cloud due to its own gravitational force, its internal turbulence and magnetic effects, the evolution of star clusters formed within, and the interactions among young stars within these clusters, as well as the influence of their radiation on the surrounding
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The amount of gas that is converted into stars by the star formation process is described by the star formation rate. For instance, in the Milky Way today between 0.7 and 1.5 solar masses of gas are converted into stars each year. However, this a mean value across our Galaxy, since locally clouds can start forming stars at higher rates
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The James Webb Telescope (JWST) will be the most complex and powerful telescope ever launched into space. Built by a consortium formed by NASA, ESA, and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), thanks to its primary mirror with a diameter of 6.5 meters (for comparison, the mirror of the Hubble Space Telescope has a diameter of 2.5 meters) and its four
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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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