An international team of astronomers have made a historic discovery using the William Herschel Telescope (WHT), detecting gas molecules in a comet which has tumbled into our solar system from […]
Astronomy & Telescopes
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Press Release
NIST's Light-sensing Camera May Help Detect Extraterrestrial Life, Dark Matter
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have made one of the highest-performance cameras ever composed of sensors that count single photons, or particles of light. With […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Press Release
Detection of a Water Tracer in Interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov
We present high spectral resolution optical spectra obtained with the ARCES instrument at Apache Point Observatory showing detection of the [OI]6300 A line in interstellar comet 2I/Borisov. We employ the […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Press Release
Detection Of CN Gas In Interstellar Object 2I/Borisov
The detection of Interstellar Objects passing through the Solar system offers the promise of constraining the physical and chemical processes involved in planetary formation in other extrasolar systems. While the […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Press Release
Atmospheric Scintillation Noise in Ground-Based Exoplanet Photometry
Atmospheric scintillation caused by optical turbulence in the Earth’s atmosphere can be the dominant source of noise in ground-based photometric observations of bright targets, which is a particular concern for […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Press Release
Exploring the Nearest M-Earths Through Ultra-Stable Mid-IR Transit and Phase-Curve Spectroscopy
This White Paper presents a mission concept called MIRECLE – the Mid-InfraRed Exoplanet CLimate Explorer. With a moderately sized aperture of 2 meters, broad wavelength coverage (4 – 25 um), […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Press Release
ESA Voyage 2050 White Paper: Detecting Life Outside Our Solar System With A Large High-contrast-imaging Mission
In this white paper, we recommend the European Space Agency plays a proactive role in developing a global collaborative effort to construct a large high-contrast imaging space telescope, e.g. as […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
Shining (Star)light on the Search for Life
In the hunt for life on other worlds, astronomers scour over planets that are light-years away. They need ways to identify life from afar — but what counts as good […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes
A Thousand Earths: A Very Large Aperture, Ultralight Space Telescope Array for Atmospheric Biosignature Surveys
An outstanding, multi-disciplinary goal of modern science is the study of the diversity of potentially Earth-like planets and the search for life in them. This goal requires a bold new […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes
A Pathfinder for Imaging Extrasolar Earths from the Ground
The Subaru Coronagraphic Extreme Adaptive Optics (SCExAO) project is an instrument on the Subaru telescope that is pushing the frontiers of what is possible with ground-based high-contrast imaging of extrasolar […]