Peking University, April 4, 2019: Chinese Astronomical Society and National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Science, jointly announced the results of the selection of “2018 China Top 10 Advances in Astronomical Science and Technology”. Two achievements attained by research professors from The Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics (KIAA) at Peking University are included: the research findings that “LAMOST telescope reveals that Neptunian cousins of hot Jupiters are mostly single offspring of stars that are rich in heavy elements” and the largest protocluster of galaxies found by Chinese scholars.
Research Professor Dong Subo and his collaborators used data from the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) and discovered a population of close-in Neptune-size planets (called “Hoptunes”) that share key similarities with hot Jupiters. The “kinship” between hot Jupiters and Hoptunes suggests likely common origins and offers fresh clues of the formation of these exotic close-in planets. The paper was published and selected as one of the highlights in PNAS on Jan. 9, 2018.
Research Professor Jiang Linhua and his colleagues carried out a spectroscopic survey of galaxies on the sky by using Magellan Clay Telescope and discovered a giant protocluster from an early age. This protocluster will collapse into a galaxy cluster with a mass of (3.6±0.9)×1015 solar masses, comparable to those most massive clusters or protoclusters known so far. The paper was published in Nature Astronomy on Oct. 15, 2018 and attracted extensive attention from peers and the media. It also was selected as the only highlight paper of that day by Nature.
Written by: Ge Pengcheng
Edited by: Hu Rong, Wang Nini
