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UPC news picks up key astrophysical discovery made in the department

The undergraduate project done by Martí Perpinyà in Physical Engineering, under the direction of Alberto Rebassa and Jordi José, has discovered the first system of three white dwarfs. The UPC news picks up the report hoping it will reach a general audience

With the title, Descobert a l'escola de telecomunicacions de Barcelona de la UPC el primer sistema triple d'enanes blanques observat mai, the UPC news service reviews the undergraduate work carried out by Martí Perpinyà in the department of physics within the degree of Physical Engineering

Based on the data collected by Gaia Data Release 2 (DR2), one of the most important astronomical missions of the European Space Agency (ESA), Martí found a triple system of white dwarfs, the first of its kind. Following its acceptance in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society , the UPC echoes the relevance of this discovery.

With fragments of an interview with both the student and Alberto Rebassa, the article, which is highly recommendable, hopes to reach the general public. The goal is to explain that this work "opens the door to scientific demonstrations of theories in astrophysics that are currently under consideration, with unimaginable repercussions on the knowledge we have of the Universe", as Alberto says.

Up on the right, you can download the direct image of Gaia where you can see the three identifiable white dwarfs for their blue color
. Furthermore, you can access the abstract summary published in the webpage of the department.
Alberto Rebassa is a Ramón y Cajal fellow at the Group of Astronomy and Astrophysics. For further details on his research see this webpage.

 

Discovery of the first resolved triple white dwarf

M Perpinyà-Vallès, A Rebassa-Mansergas, B T Gänsicke, S Toonen, J J Hermes, N P Gentile Fusillo, P-E Tremblay
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 483, Issue 1, 11 February 2019
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