ELT Archives - Page 4 of 4 - Astrobiology

Adaptive Optics Roadmap Notional Timeline

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

U.S. Adaptive Optics Roadmap to Achieve Astro2020

by Keith CowingFebruary 13, 2024February 13, 2024

In the recent Astro2020 Decadal Report, ”Pathways to Discovery in Astronomy and Astrophysics for the 2020s” Adaptive Optics (AO) was identified as a crucial technology for a variety of reasons. […]

Minimum temperature for 5σ detectability as a function of the observed orbital phase and eccentricity for an Io-like moon with an Io-like semi-major axis (top) and for an Earth-like moon with a Callisto-like semi-major axis (bottom). The green and blue contours indicate the contour corresponding to the nominal (zero-eccentricity) required temperature (as marked on the top plot in Fig. 3), and the 10 K deviations from this temperature, respectively; in both cases, these are also marked on the colourbar. We note that in all non-zero eccentricity cases the temperature required for observability is in fact lower than for the circular case over > 50% of the orbit. -- astro-ph.EP

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

The Spectroastrometric Detectability Of Nearby Solar System-like Exomoons

by Keith CowingFebruary 13, 2024February 13, 2024

Though efforts to detect them have been made with a variety of methods, no technique can claim a successful, confirmed detection of a moon outside the Solar System yet.

Artistic representation of an exoplanet whose water ice on the surface is increasingly vaporizing and forming an atmosphere during its approach to the central star of the planetary system. This process increases the measured planetary radius compared to the value the planet would have at its place of origin. CREDIT Thomas Müller (MPIA)

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Migration Solves An Exoplanet Puzzle

by Keith CowingFebruary 9, 2024February 9, 2024

Ordinarily, planets in evolved planetary systems, such as the Solar System, follow stable orbits around their central star. However, many indications suggest that some planets might depart from their birthplaces […]

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.

Comb-mode-resolving echellogram. Main image, 20.2 megapixel camera frame recorded from a cross-dispersion spectrograph, with annotations indicating the index and center wavelength of each echelle order. The free spectral range of each order is 3–4 nm, equivalent to approximately 200 comb modes and indicated by the dashed white lines. Insets, magnified regions of the echellogram confirming that the 30 GHz comb modes are resolved across the full range of modes orders 120–143, corresponding to wavelengths from 392– 472 nm. To compensate for the 8-bit dynamic range of the camera, orders 139–143, which are associated with the intense pump SHG light, were recorded at lower gains than orders 120–138. Regions bounded by yellow dashed lines share the same camera gain. In the main image, the color map is linear with intensity. -- astro-ph.IM

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

Continuous Ultraviolet To Blue-Green Astrocomb

by Keith CowingJune 26, 2023June 26, 2023

The characterization of Earth-like exoplanets and precision tests of cosmological models using next-generation telescopes such as the ELT will demand precise calibration of astrophysical spectrographs in the visible region, where […]

effects

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

Effect Of Multiple Scattering On The Transmission Spectra And The Polarization Phase Curves For Earth-like Exoplanets

by Keith CowingJanuary 23, 2023January 23, 2023

It is the most appropriate time to characterize the Earth-like exoplanets in order to detect biosignature beyond the Earth because such exoplanets will be the prime targets of big-budget missions […]

TRAPPIST-1e

Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Press Release, TRAPPIST-1

High-Resolution Spectral Models Of TRAPPIST-1e Seen As A Pale Blue Dot For ELT And JWST Observations

by Keith CowingSeptember 7, 2022September 7, 2022

Rocky exoplanets orbiting in the habitable zone (HZ) of nearby M dwarfs provide unique opportunities for characterizing their atmospheres and searching for biosignature gases. TRAPPIST-1e, a temperate Earth-sized exoplanet in […]