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Division of Electronics, Detectors and Computing for Physics (DEDIP)

Institute of Research into the Fundamental Laws of the Universe

Three galactic monsters in the early universe

Nov 13, 2024

Three galactic monsters in the early universe

Is the Standard Model of cosmology, the basis of our understanding of the Universe since the Big Bang, in danger? Recent observations by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), carried out by an international team including the CEA-IRFU Astrophysics Department, have revealed massive galaxies in the young Universe, sparking a lively debate within the scientific community.

Oct 21, 2024

First detection of asymptotic giant branch stars in distant quiescent galaxies

Understanding the diverse stellar populations that make up galaxies is crucial to studying their formation over cosmic time. Nevertheless, some intractable stars continue to resist the modellers! Their complex nature and short lifetimes make stars in the asymptotic branch of thermally pulsating giants (TP-AGB) difficult to model, a subject of debate for decades. The James Webb Space Telescope is finally lifting the veil on their contribution to the spectrum of distant galaxies.

First detection of asymptotic giant branch stars in distant quiescent galaxies

JWST finds more hydrocarbons in discs around very low-mass stars

Jun 14, 2024

JWST finds more hydrocarbons in discs around very low-mass stars

An international research team, including scientists from CEA, has just revealed the chemical composition of a disk of matter rotating around a young star, where new planets are forming. The results reveal the largest number of carbonaceous molecules ever observed in such a disk, including some detected for the first time outside our solar system. These findings have implications for the potential composition of planets forming around this star.

Jan 22, 2024

MIRI confirms the presence of sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere of WASP-39b

The James Webb Space Telescope has produced a new portrait of the atmosphere of exoplanet WASP-39b, a "hot Saturn" some 700 light-years away. After the first near-infrared observations in 2022, which revealed for the first time the presence of sulfur dioxide (SO2) in the atmosphere of an exoplanet, it was observed again in 2023, but this time in the far infrared, using the MIRI spectrometer.

MIRI confirms the presence of sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere of WASP-39b

The ammonia trail leads to exoplanets

Nov 15, 2023

The ammonia trail leads to exoplanets

The consortium of laboratories that has developed the MIRI instrument for the JWST is benefiting from guaranteed observation time. The CEA's Astrophysics Department, which is part of the consortium, has defined and coordinated the exoplanet observation programme. Among the objects selected are a number of brown dwarfs, which are excellent proxies for studying giant exoplanets, particularly those that orbit far from their star, much further away than the planets in our solar system.

Oct 24, 2023

James Webb: First detection of a 52-proton heavy element from stellar fusion

Study of the second-brightest gamma-ray burst ever observed reveals tellurium, an element rarer than platinum on Earth

An international team of scientists, including a researcher from Irfu's Astrophysics Department, used several space and ground-based telescopes, including the James Webb Space Telescope and the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope, to observe an exceptionally bright gamma-ray burst detected on March 7, 2023, GRB 230307A, and identify the neutron star merger that generated the explosion responsible for the burst.

James Webb: First detection of a 52-proton heavy element from stellar fusion

Irfu astrophysicist wins 2023 L'Oréal-Unesco Young Talent Award for Women in Science

Oct 10, 2023

Irfu astrophysicist wins 2023 L'Oréal-Unesco Young Talent Award for Women in Science

For the 17th edition of the Prix Jeunes Talents France, the L'Oréal Foundation rewarded 35 brilliant young female researchers in France, selected from 618 eligible applications by a jury of excellence comprising 32 researchers from the French Academy of Sciences. At Irfu's Astrophysics Department, Achrène Dyrek received the award for physics. Achrène Dyrek has just obtained her PhD in astrophysics.

Jun 20, 2023

JWST observations suggest that the rocky exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 c may have a thin atmosphere.

Using the James Webb Space Telescope, a group of astronomers led by MPIA, in collaboration with a team from the Astrophysics Department of CEA Paris-Saclay, searched for an atmosphere on the rocky exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 c. Although the planet is almost identical to Venus in terms of size and mass, its atmosphere turned out to be very different. By analyzing the heat emitted by the planet, they concluded that it may have only a tenuous atmosphere containing a minimum of carbon dioxide.

JWST observations suggest that the rocky exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 c may have a thin atmosphere.

Could the GRB221009A burst of October 9, 2022 be the most violent starburst of our millennium?

May 11, 2023

Could the GRB221009A burst of October 9, 2022 be the most violent starburst of our millennium?

On October 9, 2022, at 13:16 and 59.99 seconds, a gamma-ray burst (GRB) dazzled almost all the X-ray and gamma ray detectors available at the time. Since their discovery, multi-wavelength telescopes in space and on the ground have continuously monitored these events. This outburst, named GRB221009A, shook the world community of astrophysicists, who have since been analysing it to understand the physical phenomena that triggered this most intense burst of energy in our history.

May 10, 2023

Auscultating a mini-Neptune: taking the temperature with JWST's MIRI instrument

Discovered in 2009, exoplanet GJ1214b orbits a small star just 40 light-years away. With a mass around six times that of Earth and an atmosphere made up of hydrogen and helium, it is considered a "mini-Neptune". A team from NASA, in collaboration with researchers from CEA Paris-Saclay, pointed the JWST at the planet using the MIRI instrument, built by CEA Paris-Saclay, for some 40 hours.

Auscultating a mini-Neptune: taking the temperature with JWST's MIRI instrument

MIRIm instrument on the James Webb space telescope detects, for the first time, the thermal emission of a temperate rocky planet

Mar 27, 2023

MIRIm instrument on the James Webb space telescope detects, for the first time, the thermal emission of a temperate rocky planet

An international team of researchers has used NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to measure the temperature of the rocky exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 b. This is the world's first detection of thermal emission from a rocky exoplanet as small and “cool” as the rocky planets in our own solar system. TRAPPIST-1 b receives about twice the amount of energy as Venus receives from the Sun and four times more than Earth.

Sep 07, 2022

James Webb: first images of an exoplanet in the mid-infrared

Nine months after its launch, the James Webb Space Telescope provides unprecedented images of an exoplanet, the first ever obtained in the mid-infrared. These images should revolutionize our knowledge of extrasolar worlds. A team of French astronomers has been involved in the observations of this planet and in the design of the coronagraphs of the telescope. Launched on December 25, 2021, the James Webb completed its test phase in July 2022.

James Webb: first images of an exoplanet in the mid-infrared

First Images from the Webb Telescope

Jul 12, 2022

First Images from the Webb Telescope

The dawn of a new era in astronomy has begun as the world discovers for the first time the full capabilities of the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. The telescope's first color images and spectroscopic data, which reveal a spectacular array of previously elusive cosmic features, were released on July 12, 2022.

Apr 29, 2022

First MIRI image in its test phase

On the evening of the 28th, we could read on NASA's blog: "It's official, the alignment of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is now complete"! To say that all the instruments of the James Webb Space Telescope are perfectly aligned, means that the primary mirror is well adjusted. The images are already breathtaking while the adjustment phase of all the elements of the telescope is not finished yet.

First MIRI image in its test phase

HAT-P-32b: a rapidly evaporating planet

Oct 12, 2021

HAT-P-32b: a rapidly evaporating planet

Planets that are strongly irradiated by their host stars develop extended atmospheres that can be probed during transits. These atmospheres undergo photoevaporation which can lead to significant changes in the mass and composition of the planets if it continues for several gigayears. These planets are therefore valuable for understanding planetary evolution.

Nov 28, 2017

The first observing programs of the James Webb Space Telescope finally revealed

TO BE TRANSLATED Après une sélection sévère, les premières cibles d'observation du télescope spatial James Web (JWST) qui doit être lancé au printemps 2019, viennent d'être dévoilées.

The first observing programs of the James Webb Space Telescope finally revealed

Fit for space

Apr 16, 2008

The MIRIM-OB instrument for JWST passed the test

The realization of MIRIM-OB, the optical bench of MIRI (Mid Infra Red Imager), one of the four instruments which will equip the forthcoming space telescope JWST has just completed an essential step with the demonstration that it fulfills the various and rigorous constraints imposed by its use in space.

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