We present new astrometry for the young (12-21 Myr) exoplanet beta Pictoris b taken with the Gemini/NICI, Magellan/MagAO+Clio2, and Magellan/MagAO+VisAO instruments between 2009 and 2012. The high dynamic range of […]
astro-ph.EP]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones
Cosmological Aspects of Planetary Habitability
The habitable zone (HZ) is defined as the region around a star where a planet can support liquid water on its surface, which, together with an oxygen atmosphere, is presumed […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets
The Gemini Planet Imager: First Light
The Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) is a dedicated facility for directly imaging and spectroscopically characterizing extrasolar planets. It combines a very high-order adaptive optics system, a diffraction-suppressing coronagraph, and an […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones
Setting the Stage for Habitable Planets
Our understanding of the processes that are relevant to the formation and maintenance of habitable planetary systems is advancing at a rapid pace, both from observation and theory. The present […]
Posted inImpact events
Assessments of the Energy, Mass and Size of the Chicxulub Impactor
In 1980, Alvarez and colleagues proposed that, in the transition from the Cretaceous to Paleogene, a large impactor collided with Earth being the cause of the mass extinction occurred at […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets
Hubble Near-IR Transmission Spectroscopy of the Super-Earth HD 9765
Recent results from the Kepler mission indicate that super-Earths (planets with masses between 1-10 times that of the Earth) are the most common kind of planet around nearby Sun-like stars. […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones
Dynamical Study on Habitability of Terrestrial Exoplanets: Super Earth HD 40307g
HARPS and it Kepler results indicate that half of solar-type stars host planets with periods P
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets
Detecting extrasolar moons akin to Solar System satellites with an Orbital Sampling Effect
Despite years of high accuracy observations, none of the available theoretical techniques has yet allowed the confirmation of a moon beyond the Solar System. Methods are currently limited to masses […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones
Effect of Planets Beyond the Ice Line on the Accretion of Volatiles by Habitable-Zone Rocky Planets
Models of planet formation have shown that giant planets have a large impact on the number, masses and orbits of terrestrial planets that form. In addition, they play an important […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones
Search For Earth-mass Planets In The Habitable Zone Of Alpha Centauri
The “holy grail” in planet hunting is the detection of an Earth-analog: a planet with similar mass as the Earth and an orbit inside the habitable zone. If we can […]