coronagraph Archives - Page 6 of 6 - Astrobiology

Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope -- NASA

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release

Roman Space Telescope Next-Gen Exoplanet-Imaging Technology Tested

by Keith CowingFebruary 1, 2024February 1, 2024

A cutting-edge tool to view planets outside our solar system has passed two key tests ahead of its launch as part of the agency’s Roman Space Telescope by 2027.

We select 10 and 5 candidate planets around nearby stars for ELT/HARMONI and ELT/METIS, respectively. As the spatial resolution of ELT/HARMONI is smaller than the plotting range, we only show the spatial resolution for ELT/METIS as the vertical dotted blue line. Planets located to the right of the dotted line are suitable planets for ELT/METIS. All colored points are suitable planets for ELT/HARMONI. The size of the colored point is proportional to the planet radius. The color of the point is based on the equilibrium temperature. All colored data points are the candidate planets listed in Table 1. Selection criteria can be found in Section 2.1. The gray points are other exoplanets from NEA that are less suitable for direct imaging with ELT. -- Ohio State University

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Press Release, Proxima Centauri

Biosignatures: Looking For Signs Of Life Among Exoplanet Atmospheres

by Keith CowingFebruary 1, 2024February 1, 2024

The next generation of advanced telescopes could sharpen the hunt for potential extraterrestrial life by closely scrutinizing the atmospheres of nearby exoplanets, new research suggests.

Complex nebulosity and substructures in the disk, as seen in F2300C. The stretch is adjusted to bring up fainter features observed in the outer regions. Relevant features are annotated including the main and secondary disk planes and cat’s tail. The nebulosity to the west (top) includes both irregular clumps or knots, and also some apparent linear striations or tendrils. To the east (bottom) the clumps are fainter and fewer but still present, including one particular bright clump at bottom center. These clumps are consistently detected in identical positions on the sky seen in the two distinct rolls, confirming they are astrophysical in origin rather than any instrumental artifact. -- astro-ph.EP

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

JWST-TST High Contrast: Asymmetries, Dust Populations And Hints Of A Collision In The β Pictoris Disk With NIRCam And MIRI

by Keith CowingJanuary 14, 2024January 14, 2024

We present the first JWST MIRI and NIRCam observations of the prominent debris disk around Beta Pictoris. Coronagraphic observations in 8 filters spanning from 1.8 to 23~μm provide an unprecedentedly […]

The major subsystems of the Coronagraph Instrument.2 The optical bench sits above the electronics pallet. The Electronics Heat Transport System (EHTS) transports heat from the electronics to the warm radiator. The Cryogenic Thermal Subsystem provides passive cooling to the detectors. Multi-layer insulation (MLI) provides additional thermal shielding. The Instrument Carrier (IC) is the observatory structure to which Coronagraph is mounted. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Status Report

Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Coronagraph Instrument Overview and Status

by Keith CowingNovember 12, 2023November 12, 2023

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Coronagraph Instrument is a critical technology demonstrator for NASA’s Habitable Worlds Observatory.

Phase curves of the normalised total and normalised linearly polarised flux of a cloudy planet with a wavy ocean surface and an Earth-like atmosphere in an edge-on orbit (adapted from Trees & Stam 2019). The wind speed over the ocean—which determines the wave height (Cox & Munk 1954)—is 7 m/s, and the clouds consist of spherical water droplets. The cloud coverage fraction is 0.5, and while the cloud pattern is patchy, the glint is always cloud-free. The fluxes are normalised such that the total (i.e., unpolarised + polarised) flux equals the planet’s geometric albedo at phase angle 𝛼 = 0 ◦ . In the bottom panel, we illustrate the scattering angle ranges of glories, rainbows, Rayleigh scattering, and ocean glint. Note that the features in the actual curves partly overlap. The glory illustration is taken from Zakovryashin & Prigarin (2020); all other illustrations are from unsplash.com [1, 2, 3]. This figure is best viewed in colour. -- astro-ph.EP

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

Chasing Rainbows And Ocean Glints: Inner Working Angle Constraints For The Habitable Worlds Observatory

by Keith CowingJuly 31, 2023July 31, 2023

NASA is engaged in planning for a Habitable Worlds Observatory (HabWorlds), a coronagraphic space mission to detect rocky planets in habitable zones and establish their habitability.

Detection of a binary companion around HD 148352. (a) The left panel illustrates the point spread function of the host star (red cross) from a median collapsed spectral cube of a 30-second single exposure reduced by the OSIRIS data reduction pipeline. (b) The right panel shows the combined detection map from ≈ 30 minutes of OSIRIS-Kn5 observations. The signal of the host star has been modeled out and the signal of the companion is highlighted by the blue dot. The S/N ≈ 34 detection at ∆y = ∆x = −0.08” from the host star is likely a previously undetected M dwarf binary companion. -- astro-ph.EP

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

Detecting Exoplanets Closer to Stars with Moderate Spectral Resolution Integral-Field Spectroscopy

by Keith CowingMay 17, 2023May 17, 2023

While radial velocity surveys have demonstrated that the population of gas giants peaks around 3 au, the most recent high-contrast imaging surveys have only been sensitive to planets beyond ∼ […]

coronagraphic image

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

Imaging Exoplanets With Coronagraphic Instruments

by Keith CowingFebruary 22, 2023February 22, 2023

Exoplanetary science is a very active field of astronomy nowadays, with questions still opened such as how planetary systems form and evolve (occurrence, process), why such a diversity of exoplanets […]