Astrophysics

Astrophysics is an area concerning various physical ranging from planetary sized systems, to galactic scale systems and beyond, that intersects various disciplines such as Newtonian dynamics, relativistic physics and particle physics processes.

For our latest developments/activities in this area, please see the listing below at the end of this article.

Exoplanets

An exoplanet is a planet outside the Solar System. In the Milky Way galaxy, it is expected that there are many billions of planets (at least one planet, on average, orbiting around each star, resulting in 100–400 billion exoplanets), with many more free-floating planetary-mass bodies orbiting the galaxy directly.

We study the long-term dynamics of known multi-planet systems. This allow us to test the accuracy of the orbital parameters' determinations, as well as to understand how these systems evolved. We also look for the stable zones in the gaps between already-known planets in order to determine where is it possible to locate Earth-like planets.

See here a movie made by the PhD Animation on "Exoplanets Explained", for a review on the main observational methods used to detect exoplanets.

Latest Astrophysics Publications

Dynamics and geometry of the inner sub-parsec-scale jet in 3C 279 observed with the Event Horizon Telescope, H. Mueller et al. (w/ H. Olivares); arXiv:2607.16104 [astro-ph.GA].

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Regular Articles
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Probing radiation micro-physics in M 87 I. Total intensity and broad-band spectra, C. M. Fromm, Y. Mizuno, Z. Younsi, A. Saiz-Perez, H. Olivares, A. Nathanail, A. Cruz-Osorio, M. Kadler, K. Mannheim; arXiv:2607.11439 [astro-ph.HE]

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Regular Articles
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Detection of a second jet within the nuclear core of Mrk 501, S. Britzen, H. Olivares, Gopal-Krishna, F. Jaron, I. N. Pashchenko, E. Kun, F. K. Schinzel, J. Becerra González, D. Paneque, N. R. MacDonald; Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2026) stag291.

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Regular Articles
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Locating the missing large-scale emission in the jet of M87* with short EHT baselines, B. Georgiev et al. (w/ H. Olivares); Astron. Astrophys. 709 (2026) A26; arXiv:2601.13356 [astro-ph.HE].

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Regular Articles
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Spatially resolved polarization swings in the supermassive binary black hole candidate OJ 287 with first Event Horizon Telescope observations, J. L. Gómez et al. (w/ H. Olivares); Astron. Astrophys. 705 (2026) A23.

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Regular Articles
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Latest Astrophysics News & Events

Academic year 2026/27 beginning of group activities

On 16 September 2026, Gr@v resumed its scientific activities with the first Journal Club of the new term. We are delighted to welcome several visitors to the group, including Alvaro Salazar (Valladolid, Spain), Kelvin Alves (UNESP, Brazil), Flavio Rosales Infante (UMSNH, Mexico), and Razieh Ranjbar (Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences, Iran). We are also very happy to welcome our new PhD student, Yusheng He, who joins us after graduating in China. It is great to see the group growing and our scientific activities getting underway again.

Visit to Hunan Normal University

C. Herdeiro visited Hunan Normal University for two weeks in August-September 2026, where he gave a lecture course on Gravitating Solitons and Hairy Black holes. During the visit it was also possible to interact with collegues from Jianxi Normal University. Many thanks to Mengjie Wang and the whole group at HNU, led by Prof. Jiliang Jing, as well as to Hyat Huang and the whole group in JNU, for a wonderful hosting and great scientific interactions in Changsha and Nanchang.

Outreach talk on eclipses by Luis Crispino

The countdown to the 12 August solar eclipse keeps running! To prepare for the occasion, Prof. Luis Crispino from UFPA, in Brazil, will give an outreach talk on the topic on 29 July (18:00) at Fábrica – Centro Ciência Viva de Aveiro. Everyone is welcome!