INAF Arcetri Journal

The launch of Mauve

On November 28, 2025 the Blue Skies Space nanosatellite Mauve was launched from Vandenberg Base (USA) aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Mauve is a nanosatellite equipped with a 13-cm telescope that will observe the stars of our galaxy in the ultraviolet and visible bands to study their magnetic activity and the effects of powerful stellar flares which can affect the atmospheres of nearby planets and their habitability.

Elena Pancino (INAF Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory) is leading the project "StarDance: the non-canonical development of stars in clusters", one of five Mauve's surveys, funded by the European Research Council (ERC). The project will study the formation and evolution of exotic stellar populations to understand the properties of the radiation emitted by these stars.

INAF Press release (ITA): https://www.media.inaf.it/2025/11/29/lancio-mauve/

Gaia ESO: revealing the Milky Way’s inner spirals

Stellar chemical abundances are shown to trace the inner spiral structure of the Milky Way for the first time. Analysis of Gaia-ESO Survey data reveals iron over-densities and magnesium under-abundances that consistently delineate the Scutum and Sagittarius spiral arms, in both radial and vertical projections of the Galactic disc. A spur connecting the two arms is also identified in the [Mg/H] distribution. The close agreement with recent Galactic chemical evolution models supports the role of spiral arm transits in driving spatial variations in chemical abundances and demonstrates the power of chemical mapping as an independent tracer of the Galaxy’s inner structure.

Astronomy & Astrophysics:
The Galactic inner spiral arms revealed by the Gaia ESO Survey chemical abundances: Metallicity and [Mg/Fe] ratios

di C. Viscasillas Vázquez, L. Magrini, E. Spitoni, G. Cescutti, G. Tautvaišienè, A. Vasini, S. Randich, G. Sacco.

100 years of the Arcetri Solar Tower

The Solar Tower is a characteristic feature of the Arcetri Hill and emblem of the Observatory's transition to astrophysics studies. It was inaugurated one hundred years ago, on 22 June 1925.

The article (ITA/EN) published in Il Colle di Galileo (volume 14, 2|2025) celebrates the history of this prestigious instrument, including the transcript of the Tower's inaugural speech given by Giorgio Abetti, then director of the Observatory.