In today’s mailing, Hogg et al. propose image modeling techniques to maintain 10-ppm-level precision photometry in Kepler data with only two working reaction wheels. While these results are relevant to […]
extrasolar
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets
The Frequency of Planetary Systems Around G-dwarfs
We determine the fraction of G-dwarf stars that could host stable planetary systems based on the observed properties of binaries in the Galactic field, and in various postulated primordial binary […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones
Detecting Bio-markers in Habitable-zone Earths Transiting White Dwarfs
The characterization of the atmospheres of habitable-zone Earth-mass exoplanets that transit across main-sequence stars, let alone the detection of bio-markers in their atmospheres, will be challenging even with future facilities. […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets
Fundamental Parameters of Exoplanets and Their Host Stars
For much of human history we have wondered how our solar system formed, and whether there are any other planets like ours around other stars. Only in the last 20 […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets
Molecular Detectability in Exoplanetary Emission Spectra
Of the many recently discovered worlds orbiting distant stars, very little is yet known of their chemical composition. With the arrival of new transit spectroscopy and direct imaging facilities, the […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets
A Fluffy Disk Around a Baby Star
The Subaru Telescope’s High Contrast Instrument for the Subaru Next Generation Adaptive Optics (HiCIAO) has been used to observe a disk around the young star RY Tau. An international team […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets
Seismic Constraints on Rotation of Sun-like Stars and Exoplanet Mass
Rotation is thought to drive cyclic magnetic activity in the Sun and Sun-like stars. Stellar dynamos, however, are poorly understood owing to the scarcity of observations of rotation and magnetic […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets
Disk Inhomogeneities and the Origins of Planetary Systems
Recent high-resolution observations show that protoplanetary disks have various kinds of structural properties or inhomogeneities. These are the consequence of a mixture of a number of physical and chemical processes […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets
A Closer Look at HD189733b
Modern, ground-based telescopes and NASA’s Kepler spacecraft have now confirmed more than 850 exoplanets, while thousands more await confirmation. The pace of discovery suggests “there are at least 100 billion […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets
Detection of water in HAT-P-1b from Wide Field Camera 3 near-infrared spatial scan observations
We present Hubble Space Telescope near-infrared transmission spectroscopy of the transiting hot-Jupiter HAT-P-1b. We observed one transit with Wide Field Camera 3 using the G141 low-resolution grism to cover the […]