astro-ph.IM Archives

Overview of the 3 m Lazuli Space Observatory and its three instruments, the Widefield Context Camera (WCC), the Integral Field Spectrograph (IFS), and the ExtraSolar Coronagraph (ESC). Main properties and characteristics of the telescope and the instruments are highlighted. -- astro-ph.IM

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Citizen Science / Open Science, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Missions & Hardware, Status Report, Stellar Cartography

The Lazuli Space Observatory: Architecture & Capabilities

by Keith CowingMarch 26, 2026March 26, 2026

Editor’s note: The Lazuli Space Observatory is part of the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Observatory System, the proposed Lazuli Space Observatory is a 3-meter telescope designed to capture fast-changing cosmic […]

Scatter plots of potential candidate in frequency, drift rate and signal-to-noise ratio for each polarization channel. The color and the size for each point represent the value of SNR in log space. The green and red color bar is the frequency ranges of civil aviation and navigation satellites, respectively. The black dashed lines represent the expected drift rates for each observation date. -- astro-ph.IM

Astronomy & Telescopes, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Intelligence & Language, Interstellar, Magnetic Fields, Electromagnetism, bioelectricity,, SETI & Technosignatures, Status Report

Narrowband Radio Technosignature Search Toward 3I/ATLAS With FAST

by Keith CowingMarch 21, 2026March 21, 2026

3I/ATLAS is the third confirmed interstellar object passing through the Solar System. In this work, we conduct narrowband radio technosignature search toward 3I/ATLAS using the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) […]

The strength of indirect detection signals from an Earth-like exoplanet as a function of stellar effective temperature. Bands encompassing main sequence spectral classes A through M color coded by temperature are indicated at the top. Here, Earth-like is defined as a 1-Earth mass object in an orbit receiving irradiance equivalent to 1 AU from our Sun (the solar constant). Radial Velocity signals (solid blue line) are seen to exhibit a rapid rise in signal strength (given on the right-hand abscissa) for cooler, M dwarf systems where they become detectable with present submeter per second RV precision. On the other hand, astrometric deflection signals (colored diamond symbols) rise with host star temperature, and decline linearly with distance from values of up to several microarcseconds for the nearest stars. For convenience the plot also indicates the size of the temperate orbit modeled (in AU, left abscissa) and its corresponding orbital period (in years, also left abscissa). -- astro-ph.IM

Alpha Centauri, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cubesats and smallsats, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Missions & Hardware, Status Report

The TOLIMAN Mission: A Low-cost Space Telescope For High Precision Narrow-angle Astrometry

by Keith CowingMarch 18, 2026March 18, 2026

The TOLIMAN project is engaged with the construction, launch and operation of a low-cost space telescope of unorthodox optical design. Its primary science goal targets an exhaustive search for temperate-orbit […]

The astrometric and RV signals of Earth analogs orbiting nearby stars are small and below the current state of the art, while the astrometric signals of such planets are positively correlated with their angular separation but anti- correlated with their contrast and RV signal. (left) The amplitude of the astrometric reflex signal versus the radial velocity reflex signal for Earth-mass planets receiving an Earth-like instellation orbiting a sample of nearby stars that are likely to be targets for HWO direct imaging. Credit: Eric Mamajek, used with permission. (right) Contrast versus astrometric signal for a similar sample of stars hosting Earth-like planets. The size of the circles are proportional to the angular separation of the planet and the colors of the circles are proportional to the RV amplitude. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gaia Mission, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Masses of Potentially Habitable Planets Characterized by the Habitable Worlds Observatory

by Keith CowingMarch 16, 2026March 16, 2026

Constraints on the masses of exoplanets directly imaged and characterized by the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) are crucial for categorizing these planets and interpreting their spectra.

Potentially habitable worlds - Grok via Astrobiology.com

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Searching For Life-As-We-Don’t-Know-It: Mission-relevant Application of Assembly Theory For Exoplanet Life Detection

by Keith CowingMarch 13, 2026March 13, 2026

This white paper introduces a framework for applying Assembly Theory (AT) to planetary atmospheres as a biosignature framework suitable for the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO).

Pollux instrument concept schematic diagram. -- astro-ph.IM

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

The Ocean Worlds Science Case For The Pollux Spectropolarimeter

by Keith CowingMarch 13, 2026March 13, 2026

Pollux is a candidate European instrument contribution to the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), designed to advance our understanding of the formation and evolution of cosmic structures in the universe, and […]

The Milky Way appears above Earth’s bright atmospheric glow in this Aug. 23, 2025, photograph from the International Space Station as it soared 261 miles above southern Iran at approximately 12:54 a.m. local time. The camera was configured for low light and long duration settings. -- NASA/ESA larger image

Astronomy & Telescopes, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Intelligence & Language, Interstellar, SETI & Technosignatures, Status Report

Broadband SETI: A New Strategy To Find Nearby Alien Civilizations

by Keith CowingMarch 10, 2026March 10, 2026

One of the most interesting questions that astronomy can hope to answer is: are we alone in our Milky Way galaxy?

One potential Cycle 1 footprint (Equatorial Field + Southern Field of Streams), along with the coverage of other relevant surveys. These include the medium and wide components of the Roman High-Latitude Wide-Area Survey (HLWAS), the LSST wide-fast-deep (WFD) survey, and the Roman Galactic Plane Survey (GPS). The solid black line marks the Galactic plane, and the dashed black lines indicate ±20◦ from the plane. The brown dash–dot line marks the ecliptic plane. -- astro-ph.IM

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

A Path To An All-Sky Survey With The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope

by Keith CowingFebruary 26, 2026February 26, 2026

A deep, space-based, all-sky near-infrared survey carried out with the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope would constitute a foundational astronomical infrastructure for decades to come.

Results assuming undetected contacts with technoemissions over the past 65 years. a: Number n of undetected past contacts required to achieve a present-day detectability of at least 95 %, as a function of the search radius R. The thin black line shows the number of habitable planets Np as a function of R calculated from Np = 1010 R dxrρdisk(r)θ(R − d), where d is the distance from Earth. The grey region marks where n > Np. b: Average emitter longevity versus R for selected n/Np values. c: Upper and lower bounds on the expected number of present-day detections, ⟨k⟩, computed from Equation (15) for detectabilities P = 95%, 99%, and 99.9% . For each P, all possible ⟨k⟩ values lie within the corresponding colored areas. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Intelligence & Language, Interstellar, SETI & Technosignatures, Status Report

Undetected Past Contacts With Technological Species: Implications For Technosignature Science

by Keith CowingFebruary 23, 2026February 23, 2026

In the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), the highly incomplete sampling of the technosignature search space is often considered as a plausible explanation for the persistent lack of detections over […]

Concept drawings of four of the large-aperture direct imaging space telescopes envisioned and studied over the past 25 years. Note that the separation depicted here between the starshade and the HabEx spacecraft is not to scale. The starshade would typically be tens of thousands of km from the telescope. -- astro-ph.IM

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

The Habitable Worlds Observatory In Historical Context

by Keith CowingFebruary 17, 2026February 17, 2026

The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) is humanity’s most ambitious scientific endeavor to explore nearby sun-like stars for the presence of habitable rocky exoplanets and the possible presence of life.

astro-ph.IM

The Lazuli Space Observatory: Architecture & Capabilities

Narrowband Radio Technosignature Search Toward 3I/ATLAS With FAST

The TOLIMAN Mission: A Low-cost Space Telescope For High Precision Narrow-angle Astrometry

Masses of Potentially Habitable Planets Characterized by the Habitable Worlds Observatory

Searching For Life-As-We-Don’t-Know-It: Mission-relevant Application of Assembly Theory For Exoplanet Life Detection

The Ocean Worlds Science Case For The Pollux Spectropolarimeter

Broadband SETI: A New Strategy To Find Nearby Alien Civilizations

A Path To An All-Sky Survey With The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope

Undetected Past Contacts With Technological Species: Implications For Technosignature Science

The Habitable Worlds Observatory In Historical Context

NASA Spaceline Current Awareness List #1,206 2 July 2026 (Space Life Science Research Results)

Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG) Concerns

Bridging Astrobiology Research and Education Through Interactive Learning Frameworks

Viking In The History And Future Of Astrobiology Programs

Collaborating With Artists In The Search For Life