Exploring Giant Planets and Their Potential Moons in the Habitable Zone
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The Hunt for Exomoons with Kepler (Hek)
The Astrophysical Journal, 777:134 (17pp), 2013 November 10 doi:10.1088/0004-637X/777/2/134 C 2013. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. THE HUNT FOR EXOMOONS WITH KEPLER (HEK). III. THE FIRST SEARCH FOR AN EXOMOON AROUND A HABITABLE-ZONE PLANET∗ D. M. Kipping1,6, D. Forgan2, J. Hartman3, D. Nesvorny´ 4,G.A.´ Bakos3, A. Schmitt7, and L. Buchhave5 1 Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; [email protected] 2 Scottish Universities Physics Alliance (SUPA), Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh, EH9 3HJ, UK 3 Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 05844, USA 4 Department of Space Studies, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA 5 Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen University, Denmark Received 2013 June 4; accepted 2013 September 8; published 2013 October 22 ABSTRACT Kepler-22b is the first transiting planet to have been detected in the habitable zone of its host star. At 2.4 R⊕, Kepler-22b is too large to be considered an Earth analog, but should the planet host a moon large enough to maintain an atmosphere, then the Kepler-22 system may yet possess a telluric world. Aside from being within the habitable zone, the target is attractive due to the availability of previously measured precise radial velocities and low intrinsic photometric noise, which has also enabled asteroseismology studies of the star. For these reasons, Kepler-22b was selected as a target-of-opportunity by the “Hunt for Exomoons with Kepler” (HEK) project. In this work, we conduct a photodynamical search for an exomoon around Kepler-22b leveraging the transits, radial velocities, and asteroseismology plus several new tools developed by the HEK project to improve exomoon searches. -
2018 Workshop on Autonomy for Future NASA Science Missions
NOTE: This document was prepared by a team that participated in the 2018 Workshop on Autonomy for Future NASA Science Missions. It is for informational purposes to inform discussions regarding the use of autonomy in notional science missions and does not specify Agency plans or directives. 2018 Workshop on Autonomy for Future NASA Science Missions: Ocean Worlds Design Reference Mission Reports Table of Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 2 The Ocean Worlds Design Reference Mission Report .................................................................... 3 Ocean Worlds Design Reference Mission Report Summary ........................................................ 20 1 NOTE: This document was prepared by a team that participated in the 2018 Workshop on Autonomy for Future NASA Science Missions. It is for informational purposes to inform discussions regarding the use of autonomy in notional science missions and does not specify Agency plans or directives. Introduction Autonomy is changing our world; commercial enterprises and academic institutions are developing and deploying drones, robots, self-driving vehicles and other autonomous capabilities to great effect here on Earth. Autonomous technologies will also play a critical and enabling role in future NASA science missions, and the Agency requires a specific strategy to leverage these advances and infuse them into its missions. To address this need, NASA sponsored the -
Homogeneous Spectroscopic Parameters for Bright Planet Host Stars from the Northern Hemisphere the Impact on Stellar and Planetary Mass (Research Note)
A&A 576, A94 (2015) Astronomy DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/201425227 & c ESO 2015 Astrophysics Homogeneous spectroscopic parameters for bright planet host stars from the northern hemisphere The impact on stellar and planetary mass (Research Note) S. G. Sousa1,2,N.C.Santos1,2, A. Mortier1,3,M.Tsantaki1,2, V. Adibekyan1, E. Delgado Mena1,G.Israelian4,5, B. Rojas-Ayala1,andV.Neves6 1 Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço, Universidade do Porto, CAUP, Rua das Estrelas, 4150-762 Porto, Portugal e-mail: [email protected] 2 Departamento de Física e Astronomia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal 3 SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9SS, UK 4 Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, 38200 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain 5 Departamento de Astrofísica, Universidade de La Laguna, 38205 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain 6 Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil Received 27 October 2014 / Accepted 19 February 2015 ABSTRACT Aims. In this work we derive new precise and homogeneous parameters for 37 stars with planets. For this purpose, we analyze high resolution spectra obtained by the NARVAL spectrograph for a sample composed of bright planet host stars in the northern hemisphere. The new parameters are included in the SWEET-Cat online catalogue. Methods. To ensure that the catalogue is homogeneous, we use our standard spectroscopic analysis procedure, ARES+MOOG, to derive effective temperatures, surface gravities, and metallicities. These spectroscopic stellar parameters are then used as input to compute the stellar mass and radius, which are fundamental for the derivation of the planetary mass and radius. -
Alien Maps of an Ocean-Bearing World
Alien Maps of an Ocean-Bearing World The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Cowan, Nicolas B., Eric Agol, Victoria S. Meadows, Tyler Robinson, Timothy A. Livengood, Drake Deming, Carey M. Lisse, et al. 2009. Alien maps of an ocean-bearing world. Astrophysical Journal 700(2): 915-923. Published Version doi: 10.1088/0004-637X/700/2/915 Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:4341699 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Open Access Policy Articles, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#OAP Accepted for publication in ApJ A Preprint typeset using LTEX style emulateapj v. 10/09/06 ALIEN MAPS OF AN OCEAN-BEARING WORLD Nicolas B. Cowan1, Eric Agol, Victoria S. Meadows2, Tyler Robinson2, Astronomy Department and Astrobiology Program, University of Washington, Box 351580, Seattle, WA 98195 Timothy A. Livengood3, Drake Deming2, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 Carey M. Lisse, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, SD/SRE, MP3-E167, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723 Michael F. A’Hearn, Dennis D. Wellnitz, Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park MD 20742 Sara Seager, Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Dept of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave. 54-1626, MA 02139 David Charbonneau, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 and the EPOXI Team Accepted for publication in ApJ ABSTRACT When Earth-mass extrasolar planets first become detectable, one challenge will be to determine which of these worlds harbor liquid water, a widely used criterion for habitability. -
Enabling Science with Gaia Observations of Naked-Eye Stars
Enabling science with Gaia observations of naked-eye stars J. Sahlmanna,b, J. Mart´ın-Fleitasb,c, A. Morab,c, A. Abreub,d, C. M. Crowleyb,e, E. Jolietb,f aEuropean Space Agency, STScI, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; bEuropean Space Agency, ESAC, P.O. Box 78, Villanueva de la Canada,˜ 28691 Madrid, Spain; cAurora Technology, Crown Business Centre, Heereweg 345, 2161 CA Lisse, The Netherlands; dElecnor Deimos Space, Ronda de Poniente 19, Ed. Fiteni VI, 28760 Tres Cantos, Madrid, Spain; eHE Space Operations BV, Huygensstraat 44, 2201 DK Noordwijk, The Netherlands; fCalifornia Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA ABSTRACT ESA’s Gaia space astrometry mission is performing an all-sky survey of stellar objects. At the beginning of the nominal mission in July 2014, an operation scheme was adopted that enabled Gaia to routinely acquire observations of all stars brighter than the original limit of G∼6, i.e. the naked-eye stars. Here, we describe the current status and extent of those observations and their on-ground processing. We present an overview of the data products generated for G<6 stars and the potential scientific applications. Finally, we discuss how the Gaia survey could be enhanced by further exploiting the techniques we developed. Keywords: Gaia, Astrometry, Proper motion, Parallax, Bright Stars, Extrasolar planets, CCD 1. INTRODUCTION There are about 6000 stars that can be observed with the unaided human eye. Greek astronomer Hipparchus used these stars to define the magnitude system still in use today, in which the faintest stars had an apparent visual magnitude of 6. -