The pressure and temperature conditions at which precipitation of diamond occurs from hydrocarbon mixtures is important for modelling the interior dynamics of icy planets. However, there is substantial disagreement from laboratory experiments, with those using dynamic compression techniques finding much more extreme conditions are required than in static compression. Here we report the time-resolved observation of diamond formation from statically compressed polystyrene, (C8H8)n, heated using the 4.5 MHz X-ray pulse trains at the European X-ray Free Electron Laser facility. Diamond formation is observed above 2,500 K from 19 GPa to 27 GPa, conditions representative of Uranus's and Neptune's shallow interiors, on 30 mu s to 40 mu s timescales. This is much slower than may be observed during the similar to 10 ns duration of typical dynamic compression experiments, revealing reaction kinetics to be the reason for the discrepancy. Reduced pressure and temperature conditions for diamond formation has implications for icy planetary interiors, where diamond subduction leads to heating and could drive convection in the conductive ice layer that has a role in their magnetic fields.

We present an analysis of spectroscopic data of the cool, highly magnetic, and polluted white dwarf 2MASS J0916-4215. The atmosphere of the white dwarf is dominated by hydrogen, but numerous spectral lines of magnesium, calcium, titanium, chromium, iron, and strontium, along with Li I, Na I, Al I, and K I lines, are found in the incomplete Paschen-Back regime, most visibly, in the case of Ca II lines. Extensive new calculations of the Paschen-Back effect in several spectral lines are presented and results of the calculations are tabulated for the Ca II H&K doublet. The abundance pattern shows a large lithium and strontium excess, which may be viewed as a signature of planetary debris akin to Earth's continental crust accreted on to the star, although the scarcity of silicon indicates possible dilution in bulk Earth material. Accurate abundance measurements proved sensitive to the value of the broadening parameter due to collisions with neutral hydrogen (Gamma(H I)), particularly in saturated lines such as the resonance lines of Ca I and Ca II. We found that Gamma(H I) if formulated with values from the literature could be overestimated by a factor of 10 in most resonance lines.

Observations of planetary material polluting the atmospheres of white dwarfs are an important probe of the bulk composition of exoplanetary material. Medium- and high-resolution optical and ultraviolet spectroscopy of seven white dwarfs with known circumstellar dust and gas emission are presented. Detections or meaningful upper limits for photospheric absorption lines are measured for: C, O, Na, S, P, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Ti, Cr, Fe, and Ni. For 16 white dwarfs with known observable gaseous emission discs (and measured photospheric abundances), there is no evidence that their accretion rates differ, on average, from those without detectable gaseous emission. This suggests that, typically, accretion is not enhanced by gas drag. At the effective temperature range of the white dwarfs in this sample (16 000-25 000 K) the abundance ratios of elements are more consistent than absolute abundances when comparing abundances derived from spectroscopic white dwarf parameters versus photometric white dwarf parameters. Crucially, this highlights that the uncertainties on white dwarf parameters do not prevent white dwarfs from being utilized to study planetary composition. The abundances of oxygen and silicon for the three hydrogen-dominated white dwarfs in the sample with both optical and ultraviolet spectra differ by 0.62 dex depending on if they are derived from the optical or ultraviolet spectra. This optical/ultraviolet discrepancy may be related to differences in the atmospheric depth of line formation; further investigations into the white dwarf atmospheric modelling are needed to understand this discrepancy.

The recent inference of sulfur dioxide (SO2) in the atmosphere of the hot (approximately 1,100K), Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-39b from near-infrared JWST observations1-3 suggests that photochemistry is a key process in high-temperature exoplanet atmospheres4. This is because of the low (<1ppb) abundance of SO2 under thermochemical equilibrium compared with that produced from the photochemistry of H2O and H2S (1-10ppm)4-9. However, the SO2 inference was made from a single, small molecular feature in the transmission spectrum of WASP-39b at 4.05mum and, therefore, the detection of other SO2 absorption bands at different wavelengths is needed to better constrain the SO2 abundance. Here we report the detection of SO2 spectral features at 7.7 and 8.5mum in the 5-12-mum transmission spectrum of WASP-39b measured by the JWST Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) Low Resolution Spectrometer (LRS)10. Our observations suggest an abundance of SO2 of 0.5-25ppm (1sigma range), consistent with previous findings4. As well as SO2, we find broad water-vapour absorption features, as well as an unexplained decrease in the transit depth at wavelengths longer than 10mum. Fitting the spectrum with a grid of atmospheric forward models, we derive an atmospheric heavy-element content (metallicity) for WASP-39b of approximately 7.1-8.0 times solar and demonstrate that photochemistry shapes the spectra of WASP-39b across a broad wavelength range.

Elucidating the role of sulfur on the structure of silicate glasses and melts at elevated pressures and temperatures is important for understanding transport properties, such as electrical conductivity and viscosity, of magma oceans and mantle-derived melts. These properties are fundamental for modeling the evolution of terrestrial planets and moons. Despite several investigations of sulfur speciation in glasses, questions remain regarding the effect of S on complex glasses at highly reducing conditions relevant to Mercury. Glasses were synthetized with compositions representative of the Northern Volcanic Plains of Mercury and containing quantities of S up to 5 wt %. Multiple spectroscopic methods and microprobe analyses were employed to probe the glasses, including in situ impedance spectroscopy at 2- and 4-GPa pressures and temperatures up to 1740 K using a multi-anvil press, Si-29 NMR spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. Electrical activation energies (Ea) in the glassy state range from 0.56 to 1.10 eV, in agreement with sodium as the main charge carrier. The electrical measurements indicate that sulfide improves Na+ transport and may overcome a known impeding effect of the divalent cation Ca2+. The glass transition temperature lies between 700 and 750 K, and for temperatures up to 970 K Ea decreases (0.35-0.68 eV) and the conductivities of the samples converge (similar to 5-8 x 10(-3) S/m). At T-quench, the melt fraction is 50-70% and melt conductivity varies from 0.7 to 2.2 S/m, with the sample containing 5 wt% S the most conductive among the set. Si-29 NMR spectra reveal that a high fraction of S bonds with Si in these complex glasses, a characteristic that has not been recognized previously. Raman spectra and maps reveal regions rich in Ca-S or Mg-S bonds. The evidence of sulfide interactions with both Si and Ca/Mg suggest that alkaline earth sulfides can be considered weak network modifiers in these glasses, under highly reduced conditions.

Oxygen (O2), a dominant element in the atmosphere and essential for most life on Earth, is produced by the photosynthetic oxidation of water. However, metabolic activity can cause accumulation of reactive O2 species (ROS) and severe cell damage. To identify and characterize mechanisms enabling cells to cope with ROS, we performed a high-throughput O2 sensitivity screen on a genome-wide insertional mutant library of the unicellular alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. This screen led to identification of a gene encoding a protein designated Rubisco methyltransferase 2 (RMT2). Although homologous to methyltransferases, RMT2 has not been experimentally demonstrated to have methyltransferase activity. Furthermore, the rmt2 mutant was not compromised for Rubisco (first enzyme of Calvin-Benson Cycle) levels but did exhibit a marked decrease in accumulation/activity of photosystem I (PSI), which causes light sensitivity, with much less of an impact on other photosynthetic complexes. This mutant also shows increased accumulation of Ycf3 and Ycf4, proteins critical for PSI assembly. Rescue of the mutant phenotype with a wild-type (WT) copy of RMT2 fused to the mNeonGreen fluorophore indicates that the protein localizes to the chloroplast and appears to be enriched in/around the pyrenoid, an intrachloroplast compartment present in many algae that is packed with Rubisco and potentially hypoxic. These results indicate that RMT2 serves an important role in PSI biogenesis which, although still speculative, may be enriched around or within the pyrenoid.

The multi-pass transmembrane protein ACCELERATED CELL DEATH 6 (ACD6) is an immune regulator in Ara-bidopsis thaliana with an unclear biochemical mode of action. We have identified two loci, MODULATOR OF HYPERACTIVE ACD6 1 (MHA1) and its paralog MHA1-LIKE (MHA1L), that code for-7 kDa proteins, which differentially interact with specific ACD6 variants. MHA1L enhances the accumulation of an ACD6 complex, thereby increasing the activity of the ACD6 standard allele for regulating plant growth and defenses. The intracellular ankyrin repeats of ACD6 are structurally similar to those found in mammalian ion channels. Several lines of evidence link increased ACD6 activity to enhanced calcium influx, with MHA1L as a direct regulator of ACD6, indicating that peptide-regulated ion channels are not restricted to animals.

We present optical, infrared, ultraviolet, and radio observations of SN 2022xkq, an underluminous fast-declining Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) in NGC 1784 (D approximate to 31 Mpc), from <1 to 180 days after explosion. The high-cadence observations of SN 2022xkq, a photometrically transitional and spectroscopically 91bg-like SN Ia, cover the first days and weeks following explosion, which are critical to distinguishing between explosion scenarios. The early light curve of SN 2022xkq has a red early color and exhibits a flux excess that is more prominent in redder bands; this is the first time such a feature has been seen in a transitional/91bg-like SN Ia. We also present 92 optical and 19 near-infrared (NIR) spectra, beginning 0.4 days after explosion in the optical and 2.6 days after explosion in the NIR. SN 2022xkq exhibits a long-lived C i 1.0693 mu m feature that persists until 5 days post-maximum. We also detect C ii lambda 6580 in the pre-maximum optical spectra. These lines are evidence for unburnt carbon that is difficult to reconcile with the double detonation of a sub-Chandrasekhar mass white dwarf. No existing explosion model can fully explain the photometric and spectroscopic data set of SN 2022xkq, but the considerable breadth of the observations is ideal for furthering our understanding of the processes that produce faint SNe Ia.

The connection between galaxies and dark matter halos is often quantified using the stellar mass-halo mass (SMHM) relation. Optical and near-infrared imaging surveys have led to a broadly consistent picture of the evolving SMHM relation based on measurements of galaxy abundances and angular correlation functions. Spectroscopic surveys at z greater than or similar to 2 can also constrain the SMHM relation via the galaxy autocorrelation function and through the cross-correlation between galaxies and Ly alpha absorption measured in transverse sight lines; however, such studies are very few and have produced some unexpected or inconclusive results. We use similar to 3000 spectra of z similar to 2.5 galaxies from the Ly alpha Tomography IMACS Survey (LATIS) to measure the galaxy-galaxy and galaxy-Ly alpha correlation functions in four bins of stellar mass spanning 10(9.2) less than or similar to M-*/M-circle dot less than or similar to 10(10.5). Parallel analyses of the MultiDark N-body and ASTRID hydrodynamic cosmological simulations allow us to model the correlation functions, estimate covariance matrices, and infer halo masses. We find that results of the two methods are mutually consistent and broadly accord with standard SMHM relations. This consistency demonstrates that we are able to measure and model Ly alpha transmission fluctuations delta(F) in LATIS accurately. We also show that the galaxy-Ly alpha cross-correlation, a free by-product of optical spectroscopic galaxy surveys at these redshifts, can constrain halo masses with similar precision to galaxy-galaxy clustering.