UVA astronomer Jonathan Tan and an international team used ALMA and JWST data spanning nearly eight years to observe two massive young stars forming a binary system. Contrary to disk-fragmentation theory, misaligned disks and elongated orbits reveal a rare core merger, offering new constraints for models of massive star formation and stellar evolution.
NASA has advanced PRIMA, a far-infrared space telescope, into its next development phase, with UVA astronomers playing key roles. Professor Jason Glenn led the mission’s concept study, while Ilse Cleeves serves as co-investigator. Targeted for 2033 launch, PRIMA will explore planet formation, black hole growth and cosmic dust, marking UVA’s expansion into space-based astronomy.
UVA astronomer Mojgan Aghakhanloo and collaborators have uncovered the source of AT 2016blu’s repeated “supernova impostor” outbursts: a hidden neutron star or black hole siphoning material from the massive luminous blue variable star. Using Chandra X-ray observations timed to a predicted eruption, the team achieved the first X-ray detection of such a binary system.
University of Virginia astronomer Yifan Zhou is leading the first direct measurement of a day on Beta Pictoris b, a super-Jupiter 63 light-years away. Using the James Webb Space Telescope, the team found the planet rotates every nine hours and spins in alignment with its orbit and host star, suggesting it formed gradually within a protoplanetary disk rather than through chaotic gravitational collapse.
Kelsey Johnson, a professor of astronomy, is driven by a deep curiosity about the universe’s most fundamental processes. Her current research focuses on extreme star clusters, known as super star clusters. By analyzing how these clusters form, Johnson hopes to gain insights about the physical conditions of the early universe.
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