Characterizing rocky exoplanet atmospheres is a key goal of exoplanet science, but interpreting such observations will require understanding the stellar UV irradiation incident on the planet from its host star.
Spectroscopy
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Scattering Transparency of Clouds in Exoplanet Transit Spectra
The presence of aerosols in an exoplanet atmosphere can veil the underlying material and can lead to a flat transmission spectrum during primary transit observations.
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Chemical Conditions On Hycean Worlds
Traditionally, the search for life on exoplanets has been predominantly focused on rocky exoplanets. Hycean worlds are a class of habitable sub-Neptunes with planet-wide oceans and H2-rich atmospheres. Their broad […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
Webb Makes First Detection Of Crucial Carbon Molecule Methyl Cation (CH3+) In A Planet-forming Disc
An international team of scientists have used data collected by the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope to detect a molecule [1] known as the methyl cation (CH3+) for the first […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Continuous Ultraviolet To Blue-Green Astrocomb
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 […]
![Nanophotonic lithium niobate waveguides. a, Geometry of a nanophotonic lithium niobate (LiNbO3) waveguide, showing the optical mode profile for the fundamental transverse electric field (TE) mode and a possible poling pattern with spatially variable poling period Λ. The extraordinary crystal axis is oriented along the x-direction to access the highest electro-optic tensor element of LiNbO3. b, Poling periods Λ required for quasi-phase matching of various nonlinear optical processes for waveguides of different (top) width as a function of the fundamental comb’s wavelength. SHG: second harmonic generation; SHG + F: sum-frequency generation of second harmonic and fundamental comb; THG + F: sum-frequency generation of third harmonic and fundamental comb; SHG + SHG: sum-frequency generation of the second harmonic. Higher-order phase matching with three-fold period Λ is indicated (the current fabrication limit only allows for Λ > 2 µm). c, Photograph of a waveguide in operation and scanning electron microscope image of the LiNbO3 on silica (SiO2). d,e,f,g, Examples of waveguide designs showing poling pattern (top), experimentally generated spectra for different input pulse energies provided by a 100 MHz, 80 fs mode-locked laser with central wavelength of 1560 nm (waveguide cross-section and on chip-pulse energy as indicated) and pyChi [57] simulation results (bottom) for a pulse energy of 50 pJ. -- astro-ph.IM](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Ultraviolet.png?resize=1200%2C709&ssl=1)
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Status Report
Ultraviolet Astronomical Spectrograph Calibration With Laser Frequency Combs From Nanophotonic Waveguides
Astronomical precision spectroscopy underpins searches for life beyond Earth, direct observation of the expanding Universe and constraining the potential variability of physical constants across cosmological scales.
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
High-throughput Quantum Chemistry: Empowering The Search For Molecular Candidates Behind Unknown Spectral Signatures In Exoplanetary Atmospheres
The identification of molecules in exoplanetary atmospheres is only possible thanks to the availability of high-resolution molecular spectroscopic data. However, due to its intensive and time-consuming generation process, at present, […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Expanding The Inventory Of Spectral Lines Used To Trace Atmospheric Escape In Exoplanets
Escaping exoplanet atmospheres have been observed as deep transit signatures in a few specific spectral lines. Detections have been made in the hydrogen Ly-α line, the metastable helium line at […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Status Report
Day-night Transport Induced Chemistry And Clouds On WASP-39b I: Gas-phase Composition
JWST has recently detected the first robust photochemical product on an exoplanet: sulfur dioxide (SO2) on WASP-39b (Rustamkulov et al. 2023; Alderson et al. 2023; Tsai et al. 2023b).
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Brown Dwarfs, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Trade-offs In High-contrast Integral Field Spectroscopy For Exoplanet Detection And Characterisation: Young Gas Giants In Emission
Context: Combining high-contrast imaging with medium- or high-resolution integral field spectroscopy has the potential to boost the detection rate of exoplanets, especially at small angular separations.