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NASA Astrophysics Update Astrophysics Advisory Committee October 28, 2019

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NASA Astrophysics Update Astrophysics Advisory Committee October 28, 2019 NASA Astrophysics Update Astrophysics Advisory Committee October 28, 2019 Eric Smith Chief Scientist, Astrophysics Division Science Mission Directorate James Webb Program Scientist, JWST Program Office 1 A Rare Look at a Rocky SCIENCE Exoplanet’s Surface HIGHLIGHT Released August 19, 2019 A new study using data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope provides a rare glimpse of conditions on the surface of a rocky planet orbiting a star beyond the Sun. • Discovered in 2018 by NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Satellite Survey (TESS) mission, planet LHS 3844b is located 48.6 light- years from Earth and has a radius 1.3 times that of Earth. • It orbits a small, cool type of star called an M dwarf - the most common and long-lived type of star in the Milky Way galaxy. • The planet makes one full revolution around its parent star in just 11 hours. • With such a tight orbit, LHS 3844b is most likely "tidally locked," which is when one side of a planet permanently faces the star. • The star-facing side, or dayside, is about 1,410 degrees Fahrenheit (770 degrees Celsius). Being extremely hot, the planet radiatesCaption a lot of infrared light which Spitzer can see. • By measuring the temperature difference between the planet's hot and cold sides, the team found that there is a negligible amount of heat being transferred between the two. • If an atmosphere were present, hot air on the dayside would naturally expand and generate winds that would transfer heat around the planet. • The study shows that the planet's surface may resemble those of Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/L. Kreidberg (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA) Earth's Moon or Mercury: The planet likely has little to no atmosphere and could be covered in the same cooled volcanic material found in the dark areas of the Moon's surface, called L. Kreidberg et al., 2019 (Nature, 573, pp 87–90) mare. 2 2 SCIENCE Scientists Discover Black Hole HIGHLIGHT Has Three Hot Meals a Day • A team of astronomers using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and Released September 11, 2019 ESA's XMM-Newton found X-ray bursts repeating about every nine hours indicating the supermassive black hole located at the center of galaxy GSN 069 is consuming large amounts of material on a regular schedule. o While scientists had previously found two "stellar-mass" black holes (that weigh about 10 times the Sun's mass) occasionally undergoing regular outbursts before, this behavior has never been detected from a supermassive black hole until now. • The black hole at the center of GSN 069, located 250 million light years from Earth, contains about 400,000 times the mass of the Sun. o The researchers estimate that the black hole is consuming about four Moons' worth of material about three times a day. • That's equivalent to almost a million billion billion pounds going into the black hole per feeding. • XMM-Newton was the first to observe this phenomenon in GSN 069 with the detectionCaption of two bursts on December 24, 2018. Observations by Chandra less than a month later, on February 14, revealed an additional three outbursts. o During the outbursts the X-ray emission becomes much brighter than during the quiet times. Data from XMM-Newton and Chandra, taken over a span of 54 days, revealed that a supermassive black hole is blasting out X-rays about o The temperature of gas falling towards the black hole also climbs, every nine hours. This indicates that this black hole is consuming from about one million degrees Fahrenheit during the quiet significant amounts of material about three times per day. This is the periods to about 2.5 million degrees Fahrenheit during the first time such repetitive behavior has been seen in a supermassive outbursts. black hole. • The combination of data from Chandra and XMM-Newton implies that the size and duration of the black hole's meals have decreased G. Miniutti et al., 2019 (Nature, 573, pp 381–384) slightly, and the gap between the meals has increased. Future observations will be crucial to see if the trend continues. 3 3 SCIENCE Hubble Finds Water Vapor on HIGHLIGHT Habitable-Zone Exoplanet for the First Time • Astronomers used data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to find water vapor in the atmosphere of K2-18b, Released September 13, 2019 an exoplanet orbiting a small red dwarf star about 110 light- years away in the constellation Leo. o If confirmed by further studies, this will be the only exoplanet known to have both water in its atmosphere and temperatures that could sustain liquid water on a rocky surface. • Liquid water would only be possible if the planet turns out to be terrestrial in nature, rather than resembling a small version of Neptune. • Given the high level of activity of its red dwarf star, K2-18b may be more hostile to life as we know it than Earth, as it is likely to be exposed to more high-energy radiation. • The planet, Captiondiscovered by NASA's Kepler Space Telescope in 2015, also has a mass eight times greater than Earth's. o That means the surface gravity on this planet would be significantly higher than on our planet. • The team used archive data from 2016 and 2017 captured by Credits: ESA/Hubble, M. Kornmesser Hubble and developed open-source algorithms to analyze This artist’s impression shows the planet K2-18b, its host star and an the host star’s light filtered through K2-18b’s atmosphere. accompanying planet in this system. o The results revealed the molecular signature of water B. Benneke et al. 2019 (arXiv:1909.04642) vapor, and also suggest the presence of hydrogen A. Tsiaras et al. 2019 (Nature Astronomy, DOI:10.1038/s41550-019- and helium in the planet’s atmosphere. 0878-9 ) 4 4 Artemis Phase 1: To the Lunar Surface by 2024 As of July 2019 Partnerships in Innovation • Under Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS), nine U.S. companies selected to bid on specific task orders to develop landers delivering NASA payloads to Moon's surface • 12 science instrument payloads announced to be developed at NASA Centers1 • Low-frequency Radio Observations from the Near Side Lunar Surface instrument (PI: Robert MacDowall, GSFC) • 12 additional instruments announced to be developed by industry and academia2 • Next Generation Lunar Retroreflectors (PI: Douglas Currie, University of Maryland) • Two of nine U.S. commercial space transportation services 1 https://www.nasa.gov/press- providers are currently under contract with NASA to deliver release/nasa-selects-experiments-for- NASA payloads for Artemis Program possible-lunar-flights-in-2019 • 13 U.S. companies selected for 19 partnerships to mature 2 https://www.nasa.gov/press- industry-developed space technologies which will accelerate release/nasa-selects-12-new-lunar- capabilities to benefit future NASA missions science-technology-investigations 6 Lunar Science by 2024 Polar Landers and Rovers Orbital Data • First direct measurement of polar volatiles, improving • Deploy over a dozen CubeSats with Artemis 1 understanding of lateral and vertical distribution, • Potential to acquire new scientifically valuable physical state, and chemical composition datasets through CubeSats delivered by CLPS • Provide geology of the South-Pole Aitken basin, providers or comm/relay spacecraft largest impact in the solar system • Global mineral mapping, including resource Non-Polar Landers and Rovers identification, global elemental maps, and improved volatile mapping • Explore scientifically valuable terrains not investigated by Apollo, including landing at a lunar In-Situ Resource Initial Research swirl and making first surface magnetic • Answering questions on composition and ability measurement to use lunar ice for sustainment and fuel • Using PI-led instruments to generate Discovery-class science, like establishing a geophysical network and visiting a lunar volcanic region to understand volcanic evolution 7 Science After 2024 Human and Robotic Missions Provide Unique Science Opportunities On Gateway • Deep space testing of Mars-forward systems • Hosts groundbreaking science for space weather forecasting, full-disc Earth observation, astrophysics, heliophysics, lunar and planetary science • Mars transit testbed for reducing risk to humans Surface Exploration • Understanding how to use in-situ resources for fuel and life • Revolutionizing the understanding of the origin and evolution of the Moon and inner solar system by conducting geophysical measurements and returning carefully selected samples to Earth • Studying lunar impact craters to understand physics of the most prevalent geologic process in the solar system, impact cratering • Setting up complex surface instrumentation for astrophysics, heliophysics and Earth observation • Informing and supporting sustained human presence through partial gravity research in physical and life sciences, from combustion to plant growth Surface Telerobotics to Provide Constant Science • Sending rovers into areas too difficult for humans to explore; rovers can be teleoperated from Earth to maximize the scientific return 8 Building An Excellent Workforce NASA achieves excellence by relying on diverse teams, both within and external to NASA, to most effectively perform NASA’s work NASA Science Mission Directorate • Developed a PI resources webpage at https://science.nasa.gov/researchers/new-pi-resources • Introduced pre-reviews of mission peer review panels to ensure diversity • Added a code of conduct requirement for SMD-funded conferences to ROSES 2019 • Included career development positions and associated evaluation criteria as part of Announcements of Opportunity (AOs) • Implemented a Code of
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