Stellar-mass black holes (BHs) are mostly found in X-ray transients, a subclass of X-ray binaries that exhibit violent outbursts. None of the ~50 galactic BHs known show eclipses, which is surprising for a random distribution of inclinations. Swift J1357.2−093313 is a very faint X-ray transient detected in 2011 by the Swift telescope. Our spectroscopic evidences show that it contains a BH in a 2.8h orbital period. High-time resolution optical light curves display profound dips of up to 0.8 mag (50% of the optical flux) in 2min without X-ray counterparts. The observed properties are best

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

Near-Earth asteroid 2012 DA 14 made its closest approach on February 15, 2013, when it passed at a distance of 27,700 km from the Earth’s surface. It was the first time an asteroid of moderate size was predicted to approach that close to the Earth, becoming bright enough to permit a detailed study from ground-based telescopes. Asteroid 2012 DA 14 was poorly characterized before its closest approach. The main objective of this work was to obtain new and valuable data to better understand its physical properties, and to evaluate the effects of such a close approach on the object. We acquired

Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) represent one of the kinds of star-forming galaxies that are found in the high-redshift universe. The detection of LBGs in the FIR domain can provide very important clues on their dust attenuation and total star-formation rate (SFR), allowing a more detailed study than those performed so far. In this work we explore the FIR emission of a sample of 16 LBGs at z ~ 3 in the GOODS-North and GOODS-South fields that are individually detected in PACS-100um or PACS-160um. These detections demonstrate the possibility of measuring the dust emission of LBGs at high redshift

We present new 10.4 m-GTC/OSIRIS spectroscopic observations of the black hole X-ray binary XTE J1118+480 that confirm the orbital period decay at (dP/dt) = −1.90 ± 0.57 ms yr −1. This corresponds to a period change of −0.88 ± 0.27 μs per orbital cycle. We have also collected observations of the black hole X-ray binary A0620–00 to derive an orbital period derivative of (dP/dt)= −0.60 ± 0.08 ms yr −1 (−0.53 ± 0.07 μs/cycle). Angular momentum losses due to gravitational radiation are unable to explain these large orbital decays in these two short- period black hole binaries. The orbital period

Despite its importance for understanding the nature of early stellar generations and for constraining Galactic bulge formation models, at present little is known about the metal-poor stellar content of the central Milky Way. This is a consequence of the great distances involved and intervening dust obscuration, which challenge optical studies. However, the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE), a wide-area, multifiber, high-resolution spectroscopic survey within Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III), is exploring the chemistry of all Galactic stellar populations