imaging Archives

An illustration of two water-rich exoplanets with hazy atmospheres. CREDIT Roberto Molar Candanosa/Johns Hopkins University.

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

An Alien Haze, Created In A Lab, Enables Better Viewing Of Distant Water Worlds

by Keith CowingNovember 27, 2023November 27, 2023

Scientists have simulated conditions that allow hazy skies to form in water-rich exoplanets, a crucial step in determining how haziness muddles observations by ground and space telescopes.

True N2-dominated planet-to-star flux ratio spectrum with an assumed S/N = 20 (red) plotted against 1000 randomly sampled retrieved spectra with 95% confidence intervals. The blue spectrum is the median spectrum created from the 1000 plotted model runs that make up our confidence interval. -- astro-ph.EP

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

Constraining Background N2 Inventories On Directly Imaged Terrestrial Exoplanets To Rule Out O2 False Positives

by Keith CowingNovember 24, 2023November 24, 2023

Direct imaging spectroscopy with future space-based telescopes will constrain terrestrial planet atmospheric composition and potentially detect biosignature gases. One promising indication of life is abundant atmospheric O2.

Detection of the planet using model templates of the full planet, H2O and CO using cross-correlation (top row) and the likelihood ratio (bottom row). The radial velocity is shown here in the barycentric restframe. In the top panel we also show the cross-correlation value for a reference spectrum, which was taken at the same separation on the other side of the star. In the bottom panels we indicate the location of the star and the planet and the expected velocity of the planet. -- astro-ph.IM

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

β Pictoris b Through The Eyes Of The Upgraded CRIRES+

by Keith CowingNovember 24, 2023November 24, 2023

Context: High-resolution spectrographs fed by adaptive optics (AO) provide a unique opportunity to characterize directly imaged exoplanets. Observations with such instruments allow us to probe the atmospheric composition, spin rotation, […]

Evolution of the S/N (relative to its maximum) with the spectral resolution, for a fixed number of pixels (3300 pixels per spectrum here, corresponding to the case of HARMONI) and a correspondingly variable bandwidth. The largest spectral range is set to cover the H and K bands H (from 1 µm to 2.8 µm) for three different templates of planets signature. These maps include only the photon noise, not considering any wavelength-dependant instrumental transmission, which makes this result quite generic, informative of the planetary spectra properties and not of the instrument specificities. Three different planet temperatures are considered: 500 K (left), 1200 K (middle) and 1700 K (right). -- astro-ph.IM

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

Exoplanets Detection Limits Using Spectral Cross-correlation With Spectro-imaging. An Analytical Model Applied To The Case Of ELT-HARMONI

by Keith CowingNovember 24, 2023November 23, 2023

The combination of high-contrast imaging and medium to high spectral resolution spectroscopy offers new possibilities for the detection and characterization of exoplanets. The molecular mapping technique uses the difference between […]

An overview of the inputs for each step in our processing pipeline. a) A region in the HiRISE image of ESP 018707 2205 is shown at the native resolution (0.3m/px) with a blue box highlighting the window size for our classifier network. b) A 256 x 256 pixel window is used as input for our spatial classifier algorithm however the window is at 1/16 the original resolution (1.2m/px). A grid of 8x8 squares is displayed showing how that image gets tiled and preprocessed using parts of a JPEG encoder which involves the discrete cosine transform (d). c) A single 8x8 tile flattened into a 1d array which is used for the DCT transform (d). e) A block of Fourier coefficients is rearranged into a data cube and used as input for our Fourier classifier. Reducing the image size and ultimately the channel size after the first conv. layer significantly shortens the network’s processing time compared to the spatial image input. -- astro-ph.EP

AI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Astrogeology, Fossils & Paleontology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Status Report

Mapping “Brain Coral” Regions On Mars Using Deep Learning

by Keith CowingNovember 22, 2023November 22, 2023

One of the main objectives of the Mars Exploration Program is to search for evidence of past or current life on the planet. To achieve this, Mars exploration has been […]

Light microscopy (A) and confocal laser scanning, false-colored for z stack depth (B) images of heterotrichous thallus of Langiella scourfieldii (Croft and George 1959, emend. Strullu-Derrien and Knoll)

Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release

Hapalosiphonacean Cyanobacteria (Nostocales) Thrived Amid Emerging Embryophytes In An Early Devonian (407-million-year-old) Landscape

by Keith CowingNovember 14, 2023November 14, 2023

Cyanobacteria have a long evolutionary history, well documented in marine rocks. They are also abundant and diverse in terrestrial environments; however, although phylogenies suggest that the group colonized land early […]

Outline of the Ariel Challenge dataset generation. The input parameters are used to generate the synthetic exoplanet spectra and noise arrays. A Nested Sampling is carried by the Ariel Data Challenge Organising team on these synthetic ideal spectra, producing samples of the target parameters. Our Machine Learning model aims to reproduce the samples of parameters of the Nested Sampling. See text for more details. -- astro-ph.EP

AI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Ariel Mission, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Simulation-based Inference for Exoplanet Atmospheric Retrieval: Insights from winning the Ariel Data Challenge 2023 using Normalizing Flows

by Keith CowingNovember 12, 2023October 16, 2024

Advancements in space telescopes have opened new avenues for gathering vast amounts of data on exoplanet atmosphere spectra. However, accurately extracting chemical and physical properties from these spectra poses significant […]

Characterization of the performance of DRUM photography. (a) Spatial resolution tested with a negative USAF resolution target. (b) Temporal response at the center of each diffraction order. (c) Time-lapse images of the intensity decay of a bar target. (d) Normalized average intensity from (c) as the function of time with fitting. (e) As (c) but showing the laser beam’s sweeping motion. (f) Laser beam’s horizontal position as a function of time with fitting. -- Optica

Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, Tricorders & Sensors

Tricorder Tech: New Camera Offers Ultrafast Imaging At A Fraction Of The Normal Cost

by Keith CowingNovember 12, 2023November 12, 2023

Capturing blur-free images of fast movements like falling water droplets or molecular interactions requires expensive ultrafast cameras that acquire millions of images per second. In a new paper, researchers report […]

Chip scale, ultrafast mode-locked laser based on nanophotonic lithium niobate. CREDIT Alireza Marandi

Away Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Press Release, Tricorders & Sensors

Tricorder Tech: High-performance Ultrafast Lasers That Fit On A Fingertip

by Keith CowingNovember 10, 2023November 10, 2023

Editor’s note: as we develop the instruments that Away Teams use on Astrobiology expeditions, compactness and functionality will be of paramount importance. Having exceptionally compact imaging systems such as this […]

Top Panel: Best fitting model from the retrieval, along with the data points of the NIRSpec G395H/F290LP detector 2 (NRS2) observations of VHS 1256 b. We also show the 1σ range of the residuals of the data and model. Bottom Panel: Residuals of the best fit model and the observations, with the 1, 2 and 3σ ranges shown in grey. -- astro-ph.EP

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

JWST Measurements Of 13C, 18O and 17O In The Atmosphere Of Super-Jupiter VHS 1256 b

by Keith CowingNovember 10, 2023November 10, 2023

Isotope ratios have recently been measured in the atmospheres of directly-imaged and transiting exoplanets from ground-based observations. The arrival of JWST allows us to characterise exoplanetary atmospheres in further detail […]

imaging

An Alien Haze, Created In A Lab, Enables Better Viewing Of Distant Water Worlds

Constraining Background N2 Inventories On Directly Imaged Terrestrial Exoplanets To Rule Out O2 False Positives

β Pictoris b Through The Eyes Of The Upgraded CRIRES+

Exoplanets Detection Limits Using Spectral Cross-correlation With Spectro-imaging. An Analytical Model Applied To The Case Of ELT-HARMONI

Mapping “Brain Coral” Regions On Mars Using Deep Learning

Hapalosiphonacean Cyanobacteria (Nostocales) Thrived Amid Emerging Embryophytes In An Early Devonian (407-million-year-old) Landscape

Simulation-based Inference for Exoplanet Atmospheric Retrieval: Insights from winning the Ariel Data Challenge 2023 using Normalizing Flows

Tricorder Tech: New Camera Offers Ultrafast Imaging At A Fraction Of The Normal Cost

Tricorder Tech: High-performance Ultrafast Lasers That Fit On A Fingertip

JWST Measurements Of 13C, 18O and 17O In The Atmosphere Of Super-Jupiter VHS 1256 b

A Martian Horizon Last Monday Afternoon

Habitable-zone Earths At The Detection Frontier: Measured Completeness And False-alarm Rate Of A Transit Pipeline For The PLATO M-dwarf Sample

A Homogeneous Survey Of JWST MIRI Transmission Spectra Of 10 Exoplanets

Retrieving Ocean Glint Reflectance Signatures From Directly Imaged Earth-like Exoplanets

Analytical Platform (Microsampling, Catapulting, Trapping, and LIBS) for the Characterization of Discrete Domains in Samples of Astrochemical Interest