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Home , Jill Tarter, Seth Shostak, SETI Institute

Carl Sagan Center Activity Report August 2016 Dr. Nathalie A. Cabrol, Director

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Peer-Reviewed Publications

1. Bishop J. L. & Rampe E. B. (2016) “Evidence for a changing Martian climate through Al/Si clay unit at Mawrth Vallis.” Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 448, 42-48. 2. Cabrol, N.A. (2016) “Alien mindscapes – A perspective on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.” , 16 (9), September 2016 Issue, DOI: 10.1089/ast.2016.1536. 3. Coughlin J. et al. (2016), “Planetary Candidates Observed by Kepler. VII. The First Fully Uniform Catalog Based on the Entire 48-month Data Set (Q1–Q17 DR24),” ApJS, 224, 12.

4. de Pater, I., Davies, A.G. & Marchis, F., (2016). “Keck observations of eruptions on Io in 2003–2005.” Icarus, 274, pp.284–296. Available at: http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0019103516000579

5. Draper, Z.H. et al., (2016). “The Peculiar Debris Disk of HD 111520 as Resolved by the .” The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 826, Issue 2, article id. 147, pp. (2016)., 826. Available at: http://arxiv.org/abs/1605.02771 6. El Moutamid M, Nicholson PD, French RG, Tiscareno MS, Murray CD, Evans MW, McGhee French C, Hedman MM, and Burns JA. “How Janus’ orbital swap affects the edge of Saturn’s A ring.” Icarus 279, 125-140 (arXiv:1510.00434). 7. Ertem G., C. P. McKay, R. M. Hazen (2016) “Shielding Biomolecules from Effects of Radiation by Mars Analog Minerals and Soils.” International Journal of Astrobiology, accepted. 8. Harp, G. R., Jon Richards, Jill C. Tarter, John Dreher, Jane Jordan, , Ken Smolek, Tom Kilsdonk, Bethany R. Wilcox, M. K. R. Wimberly, John Ross, W. C. Barott, R. F. Ackermann, Samantha Blair, (2016). “SETI observations of with the ,” Astrophys. J. In press. http://arxiv.org/abs/1607.04207. 9. Kastner, J. H., Principe, D. A., Punzi, K., Stelzer, B., Gorti, U., Pascucci, I., and Argiroffi, C. (2016). “M Stars in the TW Hya Association: Stellar X-Rays and Disk Dissipation.” The Astronomical Journal 152, 3. 10. Konopacky, Q.M.,Marchis, F., et al., (2016). “Discovery of a Substellar Companion to the Nearby Debris Disk Host HR 2562.” Eprint arXiv:1608.06660. Available at: http://arxiv.org/abs/1608.06660. 11. Lieman-Sifry, J., Hughes, A. M., Carpenter, J. M., Gorti, U., Hales, A., and Flaherty, K. M. (2016). “Debris Disks in the Scorpius-Centaurus OB Association Resolved by ALMA.” The Astrophysical Journal 828, 25.

12. Marsset, M., Marchis, F., et al., 2016. (107) 1. IAU Circ., 9282, 1 (2016). Edited by Green, D. W. E., 9282. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2016IAUC.9282....1M 3

13. Steffen J., and J. Coughlin (2016): “A new population of planetary systems characterized by short-period, Earth-sized planets.” PNAS, Accepted Aug. 15, 2016. 14. Teague, R., Guilloteau, S., Semenov, D., Henning, T., Dutrey, A., Pietu, V., Birnstiel, T., Chapillon, E., Hollenbach, D., and Gorti, U., (2016). “Measuring turbulence in TW Hydrae with ALMA: methods and limitations.” and 592, A49.

Abstracts of Conferences

1. Bishop J. L., Gross C., Tirsch D., Tornabene L. L., Carter J. & Erkeling G. (2016) Impacts on Mars: Excavation and/or Hydrothermal Alteration. 79th Annual Meteoritical Society, Aug 7-12, 2016, Berlin, Abstract #6462.

2. Bonaccorsi, R. (2016) Life detection in planetary analog materials: applications to the search for life in the Solar System, Academies’ Search for Life Workshop Irvine, CA (December 5–6).

3. Busch, M.W, Benner, L.A.M., Naidu, S.P., Brozovic, M., Taylor, P.A., Rivera-Valentin, E.G., Richardson, J.E., Virkki, A., (2016), "Recent Radar Observations of Potentially Hazardous Near-Earth Asteroids With the Arecibo Observatory and the Deep Space Network", submitted to the 2016 AGU Fall Meeting.

4. Gulick, V., N. Glines, P. Freeman, Paige Morkner and Carly Narlesky (2016). Morphologic and Morphometric Studies of Integrated Gully Systems on Mars. Abstract # 195823, Submitted to the AGU Fall Mtg. 2016, San Francisco, CA, Dec. 12-16, 2016.

5. Hargitai H., and V. Gulick. (2016). Amazonian Island-like Landforms on Volcanic Terrains on Mars. Abstract #180124, Submitted to the AGU Fall Mtg. 2016, San Francisco, CA, Dec. 12-16, 2016.

6. Hargitai, H. (2016). Map of the Pluto System – Children’s Edition. Abstract #134228, Submitted to the AGU Fall Mtg. 2016, San Francisco, CA, Dec. 12-16, 2016.

7. Marchis, F., J. Rameau, E. L. Nielsen, R. J. De Rosa, T. Esposito, Z. H. Draper, B. Macintosh, J. R. Graham, (2016). Gemini Planet Imager Survey: Key Results Two Years Into The Survey, DPS/EPSC conference.

8. Van Heerden, E., N. Erasmus, A. Greenberg, E. Nesvold, J. L. Galache, E. Dahlstrom, F. Marchis (2016). The Deflector Selector: A Machine Learning Framework for Prioritizing Deflection Technology Development. DPS/EPSC conference.

9. Vernazza, P., M. Marsset, P. Beck, R. Binzel, F. DeMeo, M. Birlan, R. Brunetto, O. Groussin; F. Marchis, J. P. Emery (2016). C-complex asteroids: Two main compositional families? 4

DPS/EPSC conference.

Popular Publications/Web Stories/Others Bonaccorsi, R. (Media Interviews): a. High Road Documentary (TATA Motors sponsored), embargoed b. Rajya Sabha Television (India Govt. TV channel). Science monitor 08-14-16 news

Technical Reports Leah Weston completed her summer internship with Gerry Harp. She has given a presentation on this work and we expect this will lead to a poster presentation at AAS.

Invitation to Speak (Professional and Public Talks) 1. Bishop, J. – GSA invited talk – Sept 27th: “Spectroscopy of Mars analog samples to inform identification of minerals and constrain geochemical environments on Mars.” 2. Busch, M. August 12,2016:"Near-Earth asteroid spacecraft missions and the impact hazard" at Evergreen Community College; sponsored by the college's astronomy club. Attendance was reported as 103. 3. Bonaccorsi, R.: a. August 8, Lemon Tree Delhi: opening event for Spaceward Bound India on. R. Bonaccorsi, “Summary activities of the Lipid Biomarker detection Group.” b. IBSP Lucknow (India) on August 31 for the Seekers’ Interaction Forum: R. Bonaccorsi, “Searching Life elsewhere else: Life detection in planetary analog materials.” c. 21 August, Amity Institute of Aerospace Engineering (AIAE), New Delhi: International Seminar & Space Forum. 4. Harp, G. – 7/17 “The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence at the SETI Institute,” at American Association of Physics Teachers in Sacramento 5. Huang, X., Computing highly accurate spectroscopic line lists for characterization of exoplanet atmospheres and assignment of astronomical observations. An invited talk presented at the ASA-HITRAN 2016 Congress, held at Reims, France, Aug 25. 6. Marchis, F. Invited to talk at the Yerba Buena Center for Arts on November 9, 2016. “Life in Space: from Europa to Aliens.” In conjunction with Tom Sach’s EUROPA show at YBCA show please join SETI Institute astro-science luminaries Dr. , Dr. Franck Marchis and JPL Europa Project Staff Scientist and Science Communications Lead, Dr. Cynthia Philips, for a far reaching discussion of the possibilities for life beyond Earth. From Europa in our solar system, to searching for highly evolved civilizations far out in the universe, what might we expect the biologic or technologic signatures to look like? 5

Would Aliens ‘they’ let us know they exist? Would we even recognize civilizations far advanced from our own? This talk will be moderated by Charles Lindsay, inter- disciplinary artist and Director of the SETI Institute’s Artist in Residence Program. 7. Race, M. – a. Los Alto Library - Oct 19: Searching for ET and Understanding LIFE-- Past/Present/ and Future. b. El Cerrito Library - Nov 19: Thanksgiving on Mars? - Planning a Really Long Space Mission. 8. Tarter, J. a. 8/2 narrate for FDL participants. b. 8/12 talk for Early Career Network group at NASA Ames c. 8/30 talk at Singularity University Summit d. 8/26 Presentation and interview with school students (via Skype), Princeton, NJ 9. Tiscareno, M.: a. 10/2016: Propeller peregrinations: Ongoing observations of disk-embedded migration in Saturn’s rings. AAS Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) Meeting, Pasadena CA. b. 10/2016: Observing rings and small moons with JWST. Exploring the Universe with JWST Meeting, Montreal, Canada c. 10/2016: Saturn's Rings Update. Cassini-Huygens Analysis and Results from the Mission (CHARM) public telecom: https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/cassinicharm 10. Zalucha, A.: American Physical Society (APS) Forum of Graduate Student Affairs (FGSA) invitation to speak at a panel about mental health for students, faculty and researchers at their annual meeting in March 2017.

Intellectual Property SETI is currently reviewing another 23 technology developments for provisional patent submittal.

Significant Events and Activities 1. Andersen, D. and Jeff Moersch returned from work with Wayne Pollard mapping retrogressive thaw slumps and other periglacial features on Ellesmere Island and Axel Heiberg Island. 2. Bonaccorsi, R. Rosalba attended the following events as SETI Institute’s representative. a) Opening ceremony and Flag Off of India Spaceward Bound Expedition 6

(August 8) Lemon Tree, Delhi. Secretary Science & Technology and Earth Sciences (Harsh Vardhan), Secretary-DST, High Commissioner Australia, Ms. Harinder Sidhu, Director-BSIP Sunil Bajpai, President-MSA, J. Clarke, coordinators Siddharth Pandey, and Mukund Sharma attended the event. b) 2016 Spaceward Bound India Expedition Team member (Leh-Ladakh, August 9-19) Spaceward Bound Program-India team members included 32 researchers and educators from India, USA, Australia, Sweden, Switzerland, and Italy. As in every SB expedition, the educators worked with scientist doing astrobiology research, as well as testing instruments and life detection protocols for planetary exploration. Educators learned hands on in the field and will bring the acquired knowledge back to their classroom. Several planetary analogue sites were scouted and sampled for further analysis by the team. They are: i. Hot springs/hydrothermal systems: (Panamik, Chumathang, and Puga) Barcane dune system & inter dune ephemeral ponds (Hunder Dunes) ii. Cold desert at high passes (KhardungLa and TaglangLa) iii. Saline, hyper-saline lakes and permafrost (TsoMoriri, Sumdo/Kiagar Tso, and Tso Kar) in Nubra Valley c) During and after the expedition the team engaged 5 schools in Leh-Ladakh, trained the teachers, and engaged undergraduate and graduated students from other two Institutes in Delhi and Lucknow. d) August 25t - September 5th “Visiting Scientist at the IBSP (Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany (Department of Science and Technology, India Govt.) in Lucknow. Post India Spaceward Bound Expedition, planetary analogue samples collected in the Leh Ladakh region are now analyzed in collaboration with IBSP colleagues Mukund Sharma and Binita Phartiyal. Samples’ biomarkers ATP and Lipid A are extracted from the analog samples and characterized using microscopy facilities at IBSP. e) First astrobiology-themed International Space Forum (August 21). The event was held at the Amity Institute of Aerospace Engineering (AIAE), New Delhi. Sessions included “Identifying key areas of collaboration and stumbling blocks for astrobiology research in India”; “Out Reach activity of Spaceward Bound India -2016”; and “Interactive Session with Students”. During the last two sessions I gave short talks about “Astrobiology opportunities at the SETI Institute & NASA Ames”; “Analytical detection issues of relevance to search for life elsewhere”, & summary of planetary analogue environments of interest to my own research. Dr. Ashok K Chauhan, Founder President, Amity Education Foundation and Chairman AKC Group of Companies; Dr. (Mrs.) B Shukla - Vice Chancellor, Amity University and Dr. Sanjay Singh, Director, AIAE inaugurated the Space Forum. 3. Busch, M. The OSIRIS-REx mission to the asteroid Bennu is scheduled to launch on 7

September 8. Bennu was previously characterized with Arecibo radar imaging; and has a series of potential Earth impacts between 2185 and 2200 that have not yet been ruled out. In addition to detailed characterization of Bennu and returning samples of it to Earth, O-REx should be able to reduce the uncertainties in Bennu's trajectory to the point that the potential impacts are ruled out. 4. Cabrol, N. a) NAI Team telecom for the organization of the scientific expedition in the Andes. b) Participated in the NASA Astrobiology Executive Council meeting on August 26. 5. Caldwell, D. a) Revised and released Kepler “Data Release Notes 25” describing the final Kepler data processing release for all prime mission data Quarter-0 through Quarter-17. Co-Editor with Susan Thompson-Mullally. (https://archive.stsci.edu/kepler/release_notes/release_notes25/KSCI-19065- 002DRN25.pdf) b) Headed SETI Institute REU program for July/Aug. Oversaw student research talks and final papers, arranged & NASA Ames tours. 6. The Center Science Council met on August 22 to plan the roadmapping effort of the SETI Institute for the next year. 7. Zalucha, A.: Successful simulation of a dust blob on Mars with MRAMS code, and successful model run of MRAMS on NASA Pleiades, which will allow for faster computing.

Potential Highlights for the Website and/or PR

Beyer, R. The team has decided that his DPS abstract entitled "Landslides on Charon and not on Pluto” is newsworthy, and will be notifying the DPS Press officer for it to be included as part of the New Horizons press conference at the DPS meeting in Pasadena.

Busch, M. Both the Frontier Development Lab program and the REU program have concluded for the summer. Presentations from the REU students summarizing their results have already been made public through the SETI Institute YouTube channel. Presentations from the Frontier Development Lab groups are available at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6iyhdDSNFj8M_E-11CHERg .

Doyle, L.

Attended the Foundational Questions in Physics (FQXi) Conference, by invitation only, and presented a paper on their quantum astronomy experiment, which was very well received.

Reviewed a book for National Geographic. 8

Gave an interview to the Christian Science Monitor newspaper about the new extrasolar planet around Proxima Centauri.

The Exoplanet Group and Colloquium Series of the SETI Institute organized a panel on Proxima Centauri b with Natalie Batalha, Chris Burkhart, Eduardo Bendek, Tom Barclay on August 30. Below a short article including some pictures. Pictures are here: http://venturebeat.com/2016/08/30/seti-is-hopeful-yet-skeptical-that-we-found-aliens/?

Marchis, F. Discovery of a second moon around (107) Camilla.

Popular Publications

Marchis, F.

 Blog post on Proxima Centauri b - Proxima Centauri b: Have we just found Earth’s cousin right on our doorstep? http://cosmicdiary.org/fmarchis/2016/08/24/proxima-centauri-b-have-we-just- found-earths-cousin-right-on-our-doorstep/  “Let’s be careful about this “SETI” signal.” http://cosmicdiary.org/fmarchis/2016/08/29/lets-be-careful-about-this-seti- signal/?utm_content=buffer44c44&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm _campaign=buffer

Shostak, S.

 “Danger, Will Robinson,” Huffington Post, August 1, 2016. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/seth-shostak/danger-will-robinson_b_11295702.html  “Have We Detected an Alien Megastructure in Space? Keep an Open Mind,” August 12, 2016. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/12/alien-megastructure- tabbys-star-kepler-telescope  Aliens on Line 1”, Air & Space Magazine, August, 2016, http://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/aliens-line-one-180960067/?no-ist  “The World Next Door,” August 24, 2016, Huffington Post, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/seth-shostak/the-world-next- door_b_11679870.html?utm_hp_ref=science&ir=Science

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Other Media / Interviews

Nathalie A. Cabrol 08/31 Interview with the “La Recherche” magazine (Search for ) on August 31. 08/23 Phone Interview with a Canadian radio on August 23rd about the article “Alien Landscapes,” published in Astrobiology.

Seth Shostak

08/4 Interview by Czech science radio show (simul-record) 08/9 Interview about KIC 8462852, Pat Thurston, KGO Radio, San Francisco (ISDN) 08/25 Interview by “Amy on the Radio” (Skype)

Jill Tarter

08/3 Film video for Asteroid Day web site 08/22 Film with California Humanities 08/25 Phone interview with Tommy Schnurmacher Show on CJAD 800, Montreal 08/25 Phone interview with Leonard David

Carl Sagan Center

Research Thrust Chair Co-Chair Astronomy and Astrophysics Paul Estrada Uma Gorti Astrobiology Richard Quinn Janice Bishop Climate & Geoscience Dale Anderson Adrian Brown Exoplanets Franck Marchis Doug Caldwell Planetary Exploration Ginny Gulick Lori Fenton SETI Gerry Harp (co-chair) Eliot Gilum (co-chair)

Advisor Mark Showalter Advisor Margaret Race Young Scientist Michael Busch