telescope Archives

Outcome after a 10 Myr simulation of a disk of planetesimals initially between 0.5 au and 45 au in the environment of β Pic b and β Pic c taken from solution #2 from Table 1, viewed from above. The red bullets show the location of the planets and the star, and the black dots are the remaining planetesimals. -- astro-ph.EP

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

Dynamics Of The Beta Pictoris Planetary System And Its Falling Evaporating Bodies

by Keith CowingJanuary 2, 2024January 14, 2024

For decades, the spectral variations of Beta Pictoris have been modelled as the result of the evaporation of exocomets close to the star, termed falling evaporating bodies (FEBs).

Kepler-1409b, as listed in the Kepler catalog, orbits its host star KID 12405333 with a period of 0.76486 days. This transit period has been precisely detected by the GPFC method. In the top panel, a clear transit signal is visible in the folded light curve at this identified period of p=0.76486 days. Meanwhile, the bottom panel reveals a peak CNN score of 0.99999964 at the same period, along with another notable score of 0.995469 at its harmonic half-period of p=0.38243. -- astro-ph.EP

AI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Discovery of Small Ultra-short-period Planets Orbiting KG Dwarfs in Kepler Survey Using GPU Phase Folding and Deep Learning Detection System

by Keith CowingJanuary 2, 2024January 2, 2024

Since the discovery of the first hot Jupiter orbiting a solar-type star, 51 Peg, in 1995, more than 4000 exoplanets have been identified using various observational techniques.

This image of R Leporis, a star in the final stages of its evolution, is the highest resolution image ever achieved with ALMA. It has an angular resolution of 5 milli-arcseconds, equivalent to seeing a 10-metre-long bus on the Moon. It was achieved using the ALMA Band 10 (high-frequency) receivers and an array configuration with a maximum baseline length of 16 km, as well as a novel calibration technique. Submillimeter-wave emission from the stellar surface is shown in orange and hydrogen cyanide maser emissions at 891 GHz are shown in blue. The observations show that the star is surrounded by a ring-like structure of gas and that gas from the star is escaping to the surrounding space. Mass loss from AGB stars builds up a circumstellar envelope (CSE) rich in molecules and dust. In using different molecular species we can probe the CSE, and therefore the mass-loss process, at different radii from the central stars. Hydrogen cyanide (HCN) is one of the most abundant molecules in carbon-rich CSEs and is known to exhibit maser action in many transitions in the (sub)millimeter domain. Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/Y. Asaki et al. Larger imagery

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Press Release

R Leporis – Surrounded By A Cloud Of Carbon Compounds – As Imaged By ALMA

by Keith CowingDecember 29, 2023December 29, 2023

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), in which ESO is a partner, has achieved the highest resolution observations since it began operations.

Astronomy & Telescopes, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Intelligence & Language, SETI & Technosignatures, Status Report

SETI At FAST In China

by Keith CowingDecember 29, 2023December 29, 2023

Since the commencement of the first SETI observation in 2019, China’s Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence program has garnered momentum through domestic support and international collaborations. Several observations targeting exoplanets and […]

Schematic of the observing routine on Jupiter by VLT/ESPRESSO on the 22 July 2019. The small circles represent the FOV of the fibre proportional to the size of Jupiter’s disk in the context of these observations (0.5 arc seconds in diameter for the size of the FOV), and their respective labels. We also included a grid to tentatively map the relative position of each observing position in latitude and longitude. Grid lines have intervals of 15∘ on both coordinates. The solid black line on the right side of the spherical grid represents the morning terminator, while the blue dotted line marks the location of the 12 h local time meridian. The picture of the planet’s disk was taken from the Planetary Virtual Observatory and Laboratory. Picture credits go to Gary Walker.

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Brown Dwarfs, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Jupiter, Press Release

Comparative Exolanetology: Jupiter Targeted By VLT/ESPRESSO Exoplanet Hunter

by Keith CowingDecember 26, 2023December 26, 2023

For the first time, an instrument to find planets light years away was used on an object in the Solar System, in a study on Jupiter’s winds.

Examples of aberration mitigation with adaptive components: 1) use of two deformable mirrors to recover the dark hole despite segment phasing errors with the ACAD-OSM methodology (simulation from Mazoyer et al. (2018a)), 2) use of a DMD to recover the dark hole despite missing segments (experimental image from Carlotti et al. (2023)). -- astro-ph.IM

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

Challenges And Limitations Of Future Exoplanet Space Imagers

by Keith CowingDecember 13, 2023August 2, 2024

The James Webb Space Telescope was not even launched yet when the Astro2020 Decadal Survey American report recommended the development of what is now called the Habitable World Observatory, also […]

Graphic model of our CNN. In yellow, the input data shape; in blue, convolutional layers; in salmon, dense layers; in green, the output of the neural network. The lines between the layers indicate the activation function, the Dropout, and the Flatten layer, when appropriate. -- astro-ph.EP

AI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

One-dimensional Convolutional Neural Networks for Detecting Transiting Exoplanets

by Keith CowingDecember 12, 2023December 12, 2023

The transit method is one of the most relevant exoplanet detection techniques, which consists of detecting periodic eclipses in the light curves of stars.

Spectral resolution as a function of the wavelength coverage allowed by the NIRSpec + MIRI data. The observed data are represented by the black line. The five models are depicted by the colored lines: ATMO in green; Exo-REM in blue; Sonora in yellow; BT-Settl in red; and DRIFT-PHOENIX in purple. For the models, the spectral resolution has been calculated assuming a Nyquist sampling rate. -- astro-ph.EP

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

The JWST Early Release Science Program for Direct Observations of Exoplanetary Systems V: Do Self-Consistent Atmospheric Models Represent JWST Spectra? A Showcase With VHS 1256 b

by Keith CowingDecember 8, 2023December 8, 2023

The unprecedented medium-resolution (R=1500-3500) near- and mid-infrared (1-18um) spectrum provided by JWST for the young (120-160Myr) low-mass (12-20MJup) L-T transition (L7) companion VHS1256b has opened new avenues for the in-depth […]

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.

The major subsystems of the Coronagraph Instrument.2 The optical bench sits above the electronics pallet. The Electronics Heat Transport System (EHTS) transports heat from the electronics to the warm radiator. The Cryogenic Thermal Subsystem provides passive cooling to the detectors. Multi-layer insulation (MLI) provides additional thermal shielding. The Instrument Carrier (IC) is the observatory structure to which Coronagraph is mounted. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Status Report

Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Coronagraph Instrument Overview and Status

by Keith CowingNovember 12, 2023November 12, 2023

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Coronagraph Instrument is a critical technology demonstrator for NASA’s Habitable Worlds Observatory.

telescope

Dynamics Of The Beta Pictoris Planetary System And Its Falling Evaporating Bodies

Discovery of Small Ultra-short-period Planets Orbiting KG Dwarfs in Kepler Survey Using GPU Phase Folding and Deep Learning Detection System

R Leporis – Surrounded By A Cloud Of Carbon Compounds – As Imaged By ALMA

SETI At FAST In China

Comparative Exolanetology: Jupiter Targeted By VLT/ESPRESSO Exoplanet Hunter

Challenges And Limitations Of Future Exoplanet Space Imagers

One-dimensional Convolutional Neural Networks for Detecting Transiting Exoplanets

The JWST Early Release Science Program for Direct Observations of Exoplanetary Systems V: Do Self-Consistent Atmospheric Models Represent JWST Spectra? A Showcase With VHS 1256 b

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

Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Coronagraph Instrument Overview and Status

The Emergence Of Life In The Light Of Evolution

ReactionAtlas: Ab Origine Exploration Of Chemical Reaction Networks With Machine Learning

Mass Constraints For The K2-223 System Planets: An Ultra-short-period sub-Earth, A Short-period Super-Earth, And A Tentative Long-period Giant Planet

Double Gravity-Assist Rendezvous Trajectory to Halley’s Comet Using Deep-Space Low Thrust

Photometric Characterization Of Near-Earth Asteroids: Rotation, Taxonomy, And Candidate Evidence For Internal Cohesion