UV-SCOPE is a mission concept to determine the causes of atmospheric mass loss in exoplanets, investigate the mechanisms driving aerosol formation in hot Jupiters, and study the influence of the […]
astro-ph.IM
Posted inPress Release, Venus
Venus Life Finder Missions Motivation and Summary
Finding evidence of extraterrestrial life would be one of the most profound scientific discoveries ever made, advancing humanity into a new epoch of cosmic awareness. The Venus Life Finder (VLF) […]
Posted inMissions & Hardware, Press Release, Venus
Mission Architecture to Characterize Habitability of Venus Cloud Layers via an Aerial Platform
Venus is known for its extreme surface temperature and its sulfuric acid clouds. But the cloud layers on Venus have similar temperature and pressure conditions to those on the surface […]
Posted inMissions & Hardware, Press Release, Venus
Aerial Platform Design Options for a Life-Finding Mission at Venus
Mounting evidence of chemical disequilibria in the Venusian atmosphere has heightened interest in the search for life within the planet’s cloud decks. Balloon systems are currently considered to be the […]
Posted inSETI & Technosignatures
Drift Rates Of Narrow-band Signals In Long-term SETI Observations for Exoplanets
The Doppler shift of a radio signal is caused by the relative motion between the transmitter and receiver. The change in frequency of the signal over time is called drift […]
Posted inAstrochemistry
Binding Energy Evaluation Platform: A Database Of Quantum Chemical Binding Energy Distributions For The Astrochemical Community
The quality of astrochemical models is highly dependent on reliable binding energy (BE) values that consider the morphological and energetic variety of binding sites on the surface of ice-grain mantles. […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets
Report On Community Cadence Observing to Maximize the Scientific Output of the Keck Planet Finder
The arrival of the Keck Planet Finder (KPF) in 2022 represents a major advance in the precision radial velocity (PRV) capabilities of the W. M. Keck Observatory. In preparation for […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes
Characterization Of JWST Science Performance From Commissioning
This document characterizes the actual science performance of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), as known on 12 July 2022. Following six months of commissioning to prepare JWST for science […]
Posted inSETI & Technosignatures
A Search For Radio Technosignatures At The Solar Gravitational Lens Targeting Alpha Centauri
Stars provide an enormous gain for interstellar communications at their gravitational focus, perhaps as part of an interstellar network. If the Sun is part of such a network, there should […]
Posted inSETI & Technosignatures
Could The "Wow" Signal Have Originated From A Stochastic Repeating Beacon?
The famous “Wow” signal detected in 1977 remains arguably the most compelling SETI signal ever found. The original Big Ear data requires that the signal turned on/off over the span […]