Far ultraviolet (FUV) emission lines from dwarf stars are important driving sources of photochemistry in planetary atmospheres. Properly interpreting spectral features of planetary atmospheres critically depends on the emission of […]
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](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/chasing-1.png?resize=1200%2C720&ssl=1)
Posted inAstronomy & 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
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.
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Missions & Hardware, Status Report
Habitable Worlds Observatory Science, Technology, Architecture Review Team and Virtual Town Hall
Dear Colleagues, NASA is creating a Science, Technology, Architecture Review Team (START) to determine the science scope and needed observatory capabilities for the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO).
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Doppler Constraints on Planetary Companions to Nearby Sun-like Stars: An Archival Radial Velocity Survey of Southern Targets for Proposed NASA Direct Imaging Missions
Directly imaging temperate rocky planets orbiting nearby, Sun-like stars with a 6-m-class IR/O/UV space telescope, recently dubbed the Habitable Worlds Observatory, is a high priority goal of the Astro2020 Decadal […]