Exoplanet Science Strategy
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The Discovery of Exoplanets
L'Univers, S´eminairePoincar´eXX (2015) 113 { 137 S´eminairePoincar´e New Worlds Ahead: The Discovery of Exoplanets Arnaud Cassan Universit´ePierre et Marie Curie Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris 98bis boulevard Arago 75014 Paris, France Abstract. Exoplanets are planets orbiting stars other than the Sun. In 1995, the discovery of the first exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star paved the way to an exoplanet detection rush, which revealed an astonishing diversity of possible worlds. These detections led us to completely renew planet formation and evolu- tion theories. Several detection techniques have revealed a wealth of surprising properties characterizing exoplanets that are not found in our own planetary system. After two decades of exoplanet search, these new worlds are found to be ubiquitous throughout the Milky Way. A positive sign that life has developed elsewhere than on Earth? 1 The Solar system paradigm: the end of certainties Looking at the Solar system, striking facts appear clearly: all seven planets orbit in the same plane (the ecliptic), all have almost circular orbits, the Sun rotation is perpendicular to this plane, and the direction of the Sun rotation is the same as the planets revolution around the Sun. These observations gave birth to the Solar nebula theory, which was proposed by Kant and Laplace more that two hundred years ago, but, although correct, it has been for decades the subject of many debates. In this theory, the Solar system was formed by the collapse of an approximately spheric giant interstellar cloud of gas and dust, which eventually flattened in the plane perpendicular to its initial rotation axis. -
Modeling Super-Earth Atmospheres in Preparation for Upcoming Extremely Large Telescopes
Modeling Super-Earth Atmospheres In Preparation for Upcoming Extremely Large Telescopes Maggie Thompson1 Jonathan Fortney1, Andy Skemer1, Tyler Robinson2, Theodora Karalidi1, Steph Sallum1 1University of California, Santa Cruz, CA; 2Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ ExoPAG 19 January 6, 2019 Seattle, Washington Image Credit: NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle Roadmap Research Goals & Current Atmosphere Modeling Selecting Super-Earths for State of Super-Earth Tool (Past & Present) Follow-Up Observations Detection Preliminary Assessment of Future Observatories for Conclusions & Upcoming Instruments’ Super-Earths Future Work Capabilities for Super-Earths M. Thompson — ExoPAG 19 01/06/19 Research Goals • Extend previous modeling tool to simulate super-Earth planet atmospheres around M, K and G stars • Apply modified code to explore the parameter space of actual and synthetic super-Earths to select most suitable set of confirmed exoplanets for follow-up observations with JWST and next-generation ground-based telescopes • Inform the design of advanced instruments such as the Planetary Systems Imager (PSI), a proposed second-generation instrument for TMT/GMT M. Thompson — ExoPAG 19 01/06/19 Current State of Super-Earth Detections (1) Neptune Mass Range of Interest Earth Data from NASA Exoplanet Archive M. Thompson — ExoPAG 19 01/06/19 Current State of Super-Earth Detections (2) A Approximate Habitable Zone Host Star Spectral Type F G K M Data from NASA Exoplanet Archive M. Thompson — ExoPAG 19 01/06/19 Atmosphere Modeling Tool Evolution of Atmosphere Model • Solar System Planets & Moons ~ 1980’s (e.g., McKay et al. 1989) • Brown Dwarfs ~ 2000’s (e.g., Burrows et al. 2001) • Hot Jupiters & Other Giant Exoplanets ~ 2000’s (e.g., Fortney et al. -
The Nearest Stars: a Guided Tour by Sherwood Harrington, Astronomical Society of the Pacific
www.astrosociety.org/uitc No. 5 - Spring 1986 © 1986, Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 390 Ashton Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94112. The Nearest Stars: A Guided Tour by Sherwood Harrington, Astronomical Society of the Pacific A tour through our stellar neighborhood As evening twilight fades during April and early May, a brilliant, blue-white star can be seen low in the sky toward the southwest. That star is called Sirius, and it is the brightest star in Earth's nighttime sky. Sirius looks so bright in part because it is a relatively powerful light producer; if our Sun were suddenly replaced by Sirius, our daylight on Earth would be more than 20 times as bright as it is now! But the other reason Sirius is so brilliant in our nighttime sky is that it is so close; Sirius is the nearest neighbor star to the Sun that can be seen with the unaided eye from the Northern Hemisphere. "Close'' in the interstellar realm, though, is a very relative term. If you were to model the Sun as a basketball, then our planet Earth would be about the size of an apple seed 30 yards away from it — and even the nearest other star (alpha Centauri, visible from the Southern Hemisphere) would be 6,000 miles away. Distances among the stars are so large that it is helpful to express them using the light-year — the distance light travels in one year — as a measuring unit. In this way of expressing distances, alpha Centauri is about four light-years away, and Sirius is about eight and a half light- years distant. -
Where Are the Distant Worlds? Star Maps
W here Are the Distant Worlds? Star Maps Abo ut the Activity Whe re are the distant worlds in the night sky? Use a star map to find constellations and to identify stars with extrasolar planets. (Northern Hemisphere only, naked eye) Topics Covered • How to find Constellations • Where we have found planets around other stars Participants Adults, teens, families with children 8 years and up If a school/youth group, 10 years and older 1 to 4 participants per map Materials Needed Location and Timing • Current month's Star Map for the Use this activity at a star party on a public (included) dark, clear night. Timing depends only • At least one set Planetary on how long you want to observe. Postcards with Key (included) • A small (red) flashlight • (Optional) Print list of Visible Stars with Planets (included) Included in This Packet Page Detailed Activity Description 2 Helpful Hints 4 Background Information 5 Planetary Postcards 7 Key Planetary Postcards 9 Star Maps 20 Visible Stars With Planets 33 © 2008 Astronomical Society of the Pacific www.astrosociety.org Copies for educational purposes are permitted. Additional astronomy activities can be found here: http://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov Detailed Activity Description Leader’s Role Participants’ Roles (Anticipated) Introduction: To Ask: Who has heard that scientists have found planets around stars other than our own Sun? How many of these stars might you think have been found? Anyone ever see a star that has planets around it? (our own Sun, some may know of other stars) We can’t see the planets around other stars, but we can see the star. -
A Review of Possible Planetary Atmospheres in the TRAPPIST-1 System
Space Sci Rev (2020) 216:100 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-020-00719-1 A Review of Possible Planetary Atmospheres in the TRAPPIST-1 System Martin Turbet1 · Emeline Bolmont1 · Vincent Bourrier1 · Brice-Olivier Demory2 · Jérémy Leconte3 · James Owen4 · Eric T. Wolf5 Received: 14 January 2020 / Accepted: 4 July 2020 / Published online: 23 July 2020 © The Author(s) 2020 Abstract TRAPPIST-1 is a fantastic nearby (∼39.14 light years) planetary system made of at least seven transiting terrestrial-size, terrestrial-mass planets all receiving a moderate amount of irradiation. To date, this is the most observationally favourable system of po- tentially habitable planets known to exist. Since the announcement of the discovery of the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system in 2016, a growing number of techniques and approaches have been used and proposed to characterize its true nature. Here we have compiled a state- of-the-art overview of all the observational and theoretical constraints that have been ob- tained so far using these techniques and approaches. The goal is to get a better understanding of whether or not TRAPPIST-1 planets can have atmospheres, and if so, what they are made of. For this, we surveyed the literature on TRAPPIST-1 about topics as broad as irradiation environment, planet formation and migration, orbital stability, effects of tides and Transit Timing Variations, transit observations, stellar contamination, density measurements, and numerical climate and escape models. Each of these topics adds a brick to our understand- ing of the likely—or on the contrary unlikely—atmospheres of the seven known planets of the system. -
Naming the Extrasolar Planets
Naming the extrasolar planets W. Lyra Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, K¨onigstuhl 17, 69177, Heidelberg, Germany [email protected] Abstract and OGLE-TR-182 b, which does not help educators convey the message that these planets are quite similar to Jupiter. Extrasolar planets are not named and are referred to only In stark contrast, the sentence“planet Apollo is a gas giant by their assigned scientific designation. The reason given like Jupiter” is heavily - yet invisibly - coated with Coper- by the IAU to not name the planets is that it is consid- nicanism. ered impractical as planets are expected to be common. I One reason given by the IAU for not considering naming advance some reasons as to why this logic is flawed, and sug- the extrasolar planets is that it is a task deemed impractical. gest names for the 403 extrasolar planet candidates known One source is quoted as having said “if planets are found to as of Oct 2009. The names follow a scheme of association occur very frequently in the Universe, a system of individual with the constellation that the host star pertains to, and names for planets might well rapidly be found equally im- therefore are mostly drawn from Roman-Greek mythology. practicable as it is for stars, as planet discoveries progress.” Other mythologies may also be used given that a suitable 1. This leads to a second argument. It is indeed impractical association is established. to name all stars. But some stars are named nonetheless. In fact, all other classes of astronomical bodies are named. -
Cr> Γ- ΟΟ [ Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
cr> - ΟΟΓ [ Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific cs] 102:379-411, April 1990 \—I0 ωCu 1 PUBLICATIONS OF THE 2 ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF THE PACIFIC Vol. 102 April 1990 No. 650 CONTEMPORARY OPTICAL SPECTRAL CLASSIFICATION OF THE OB STARS: A DIGITAL ATLAS* NOLAN R. WALBORNt Space Telescope Science Institute, φ 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, Maryland 21218 AND EDWARD L. FITZPATRICKf Princeton University Observatory, Peyton Hall, Princeton, New Jersey 08544 Received 1990 ABSTRACT Some recent developments in the optical classification of OB spectra are reviewed in terms of a comprehensive atlas of new blue-violet digital data from the CTIO 1-meter photon-counting system. These developments include the OS spectral type; luminosity criteria for the O stars; OBN/OBC anomalies; and refined, interpolated late-O/early-B types. Examples of these phenom- ena are included among extensive spectral- and luminosity-class sequences, comprising 75 standard objects arranged into 27 montages and covering the wavelength range 3950 Â-4750 A for types OS-BS (-B8 at Iö). It is intended that this atlas serve a reference function analogous to that of the printed MK atlases, for morphological investigations of OB spectra based on digital data, which will supersede photographic techniques in most future applications. Key words: spectral atlas-OB stars 1. Introduction and Background The Μ Κ classification was based on blue-violet The system of spectral classification provided one (3900 Â-4900 A) photographic spectrograms of disper- Μ Κ -1 of the foundations of stellar astrophysics. Far from being sion ~ 100 A mm (resolution ~ 2 A) and widening at rendered obsolete by the development of the latter, how- least 0.5 mm. -
Livre-Ovni.Pdf
UN MONDE BIZARRE Le livre des étranges Objets Volants Non Identifiés Chapitre 1 Paranormal Le paranormal est un terme utilisé pour qualifier un en- mé n'est pas considéré comme paranormal par les semble de phénomènes dont les causes ou mécanismes neuroscientifiques) ; ne sont apparemment pas explicables par des lois scien- tifiques établies. Le préfixe « para » désignant quelque • Les différents moyens de communication avec les chose qui est à côté de la norme, la norme étant ici le morts : naturels (médiumnité, nécromancie) ou ar- consensus scientifique d'une époque. Un phénomène est tificiels (la transcommunication instrumentale telle qualifié de paranormal lorsqu'il ne semble pas pouvoir que les voix électroniques); être expliqué par les lois naturelles connues, laissant ain- si le champ libre à de nouvelles recherches empiriques, à • Les apparitions de l'au-delà (fantômes, revenants, des interprétations, à des suppositions et à l'imaginaire. ectoplasmes, poltergeists, etc.) ; Les initiateurs de la parapsychologie se sont donné comme objectif d'étudier d'une manière scientifique • la cryptozoologie (qui étudie l'existence d'espèce in- ce qu'ils considèrent comme des perceptions extra- connues) : classification assez injuste, car l'objet de sensorielles et de la psychokinèse. Malgré l'existence de la cryptozoologie est moins de cultiver les mythes laboratoires de parapsychologie dans certaines universi- que de chercher s’il y a ou non une espèce animale tés, notamment en Grande-Bretagne, le paranormal est inconnue réelle derrière une légende ; généralement considéré comme un sujet d'étude peu sé- rieux. Il est en revanche parfois associé a des activités • Le phénomène ovni et ses dérivés (cercle de culture). -
Space Missions for Exoplanet
Space missions for exoplanet January 3, 2020 Source: The Hindu Manifest pedagogy: As a part of science & technology and geography, questions related to space have been asked both at prelims and mains stage. Finding life in other celestial bodies had always been a human curiosity. Origin of the solar system, exoplanets as prospective resources zone, finding life etc are key objectives of NASA and other space programs. In news: European Space Agency (ESA) has launched CHEOPS exoplanet mission Placing it in syllabus: Exoplanet space missions Static dimensions: What are exoplanets? Current dimensions: Exoplanet missions by NASA Exoplanet missions by ESA and CHEOPS mission Content: What are Exoplanets? The worlds orbiting other stars are called “exoplanets”. They vary in sizes, from gas giants larger than Jupiter to small, rocky planets about as big around as Earth. They can be hot enough to boil metal or locked in deep freeze. They can orbit two suns at once. Some exoplanets are sunless, wandering through the galaxy in permanent darkness. The first exoplanet invented was 51 Pegasi b, a “hot Jupiter” in 1995 which is 50 light-years away that is locked in a four-day orbit around its star. ((The discoverers Didier Queloz and Michel Mayor of 51 Pegasi b shared the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics for their breakthrough finding)). And a system of three “pulsar planets” had been detected, beginning in 1992. The circumstellar habitable zone (CHZ) also called the Goldilocks zone is the range of orbits around a star within which a planetary surface can support liquid water given sufficient atmospheric pressure. -
Abstracts Connecting to the Boston University Network
20th Cambridge Workshop: Cool Stars, Stellar Systems, and the Sun July 29 - Aug 3, 2018 Boston / Cambridge, USA Abstracts Connecting to the Boston University Network 1. Select network ”BU Guest (unencrypted)” 2. Once connected, open a web browser and try to navigate to a website. You should be redirected to https://safeconnect.bu.edu:9443 for registration. If the page does not automatically redirect, go to bu.edu to be brought to the login page. 3. Enter the login information: Guest Username: CoolStars20 Password: CoolStars20 Click to accept the conditions then log in. ii Foreword Our story starts on January 31, 1980 when a small group of about 50 astronomers came to- gether, organized by Andrea Dupree, to discuss the results from the new high-energy satel- lites IUE and Einstein. Called “Cool Stars, Stellar Systems, and the Sun,” the meeting empha- sized the solar stellar connection and focused discussion on “several topics … in which the similarity is manifest: the structures of chromospheres and coronae, stellar activity, and the phenomena of mass loss,” according to the preface of the resulting, “Special Report of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.” We could easily have chosen the same topics for this meeting. Over the summer of 1980, the group met again in Bonas, France and then back in Cambridge in 1981. Nearly 40 years on, I am comfortable saying these workshops have evolved to be the premier conference series for cool star research. Cool Stars has been held largely biennially, alternating between North America and Europe. Over that time, the field of stellar astro- physics has been upended several times, first by results from Hubble, then ROSAT, then Keck and other large aperture ground-based adaptive optics telescopes. -
On the Detection of Exoplanets Via Radial Velocity Doppler Spectroscopy
The Downtown Review Volume 1 Issue 1 Article 6 January 2015 On the Detection of Exoplanets via Radial Velocity Doppler Spectroscopy Joseph P. Glaser Cleveland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/tdr Part of the Astrophysics and Astronomy Commons How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! Recommended Citation Glaser, Joseph P.. "On the Detection of Exoplanets via Radial Velocity Doppler Spectroscopy." The Downtown Review. Vol. 1. Iss. 1 (2015) . Available at: https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/tdr/vol1/iss1/6 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at EngagedScholarship@CSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Downtown Review by an authorized editor of EngagedScholarship@CSU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Glaser: Detection of Exoplanets 1 Introduction to Exoplanets For centuries, some of humanity’s greatest minds have pondered over the possibility of other worlds orbiting the uncountable number of stars that exist in the visible universe. The seeds for eventual scientific speculation on the possibility of these "exoplanets" began with the works of a 16th century philosopher, Giordano Bruno. In his modernly celebrated work, On the Infinite Universe & Worlds, Bruno states: "This space we declare to be infinite (...) In it are an infinity of worlds of the same kind as our own." By the time of the European Scientific Revolution, Isaac Newton grew fond of the idea and wrote in his Principia: "If the fixed stars are the centers of similar systems [when compared to the solar system], they will all be constructed according to a similar design and subject to the dominion of One." Due to limitations on observational equipment, the field of exoplanetary systems existed primarily in theory until the late 1980s. -
HOW to CONSTRAIN YOUR M DWARF: MEASURING EFFECTIVE TEMPERATURE, BOLOMETRIC LUMINOSITY, MASS, and RADIUS Andrew W
The Astrophysical Journal, 804:64 (38pp), 2015 May 1 doi:10.1088/0004-637X/804/1/64 © 2015. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. HOW TO CONSTRAIN YOUR M DWARF: MEASURING EFFECTIVE TEMPERATURE, BOLOMETRIC LUMINOSITY, MASS, AND RADIUS Andrew W. Mann1,2,8,9, Gregory A. Feiden3, Eric Gaidos4,5,10, Tabetha Boyajian6, and Kaspar von Braun7 1 University of Texas at Austin, USA; [email protected] 2 Institute for Astrophysical Research, Boston University, USA 3 Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, SE-751 20, Uppsala, Sweden 4 Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA 5 Max Planck Institut für Astronomie, Heidelberg, Germany 6 Department of Astronomy, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA 7 Lowell Observatory, 1400 W. Mars Hill Rd., Flagstaff, AZ, USA Received 2015 January 6; accepted 2015 February 26; published 2015 May 4 ABSTRACT Precise and accurate parameters for late-type (late K and M) dwarf stars are important for characterization of any orbiting planets, but such determinations have been hampered by these stars’ complex spectra and dissimilarity to the Sun. We exploit an empirically calibrated method to estimate spectroscopic effective temperature (Teff) and the Stefan–Boltzmann law to determine radii of 183 nearby K7–M7 single stars with a precision of 2%–5%. Our improved stellar parameters enable us to develop model-independent relations between Teff or absolute magnitude and radius, as well as between color and Teff. The derived Teff–radius relation depends strongly on [Fe/H],as predicted by theory.