The Tierras Observatory: an Ultra-Precise Photometer to Characterize Nearby Terrestrial Exoplanets
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Distances and Absolute Ages of Galactic Globular Clusters From
651 DISTANCES AND ABSOLUTE AGES OF GALACTIC GLOBULAR CLUSTERS FROM HIPPARCOS PARALLAXES OF LOCAL SUBDWARFS 1 2;3 2 2 4 5 R.G. Gratton ,F.Fusi Pecci , E. Carretta , G. Clementini , C.E. Corsi , M.G. Lattanzi 1 Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova, Vicolo dell'Osservatorio 5, 35122 Padova, Italy 2 Osservatorio Astronomico di Bologna, Via Zamb oni 33, 40126 Bologna, Italy 3 Stazione Astronomica, 09012 Cap oterra, Cagliari, Italy 4 Osservatorio Astronomico di Monte Mario, Via del Parco Mellini 84, 00136 Roma, Italy 5 Osservatorio Astronomico di Torino, Strada Osservatorio 20, 10025 Pino Torinese, Italy +5 ABSTRACT 1996; t =15 Gyr, VandenBerg et al. 1996. These 3 values are in con ict with the age of the Universe derived from the most recent estimates of the Hub- High precision trigonometric parallaxes from the ble constant and the standard cosmological Eistein- Hipparcos satellite and accurate metal abundances de Sitter mo del. Since, most recent determinations 1 1 [Fe/H], [O/Fe], and [ /Fe] from high resolution of H are in the range of 55 75 km s Mp c 0 sp ectroscopy for ab out 30 lo cal sub dwarfs have b een H = 73 10 km/s/Mp c, Freedman et al. 1997; 0 used to derive distances and ages for a carefully se- H =63:13:42:9 km/s/Mp c, Hamuy et al. 1996; 0 lected sample of nine globular clusters. We nd H =587 km/s/Mp c, Saha et al. 1997, H =567 0 0 that Hipparcos parallaxes are smaller than the cor- km/s/Mp c, Sandage & Tamman 1997, the age of resp onding ground-based measurements leading, to the Universe is constrained to be t < 11:6 Gyr in a longer distance scale 0:2 mag and to ages an Einstein-de Sitter mo del, and t<14:9 Gyr in a 2:8 Gyr younger. -
Observing Exoplanets
Observing Exoplanets Olivier Guyon University of Arizona Astrobiology Center, National Institutes for Natural Sciences (NINS) Subaru Telescope, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, National Institutes for Natural Sciences (NINS) Nov 29, 2017 My Background Astronomer / Optical scientist at University of Arizona and Subaru Telescope (National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Telescope located in Hawaii) I develop instrumentation to find and study exoplanet, for ground-based telescopes and space missions My interest is focused on habitable planets and search for life outside our solar system At Subaru Telescope, I lead the Subaru Coronagraphic Extreme Adaptive Optics (SCExAO) instrument. 2 ALL known Planets until 1989 Approximately 10% of stars have a potentially habitable planet 200 billion stars in our galaxy → approximately 20 billion habitable planets Imagine 200 explorers, each spending 20s on each habitable planet, 24hr a day, 7 days a week. It would take >60yr to explore all habitable planets in our galaxy alone. x 100,000,000,000 galaxies in the observable universe Habitable planets Potentially habitable planet : – Planet mass sufficiently large to retain atmosphere, but sufficiently low to avoid becoming gaseous giant – Planet distance to star allows surface temperature suitable for liquid water (habitable zone) Habitable zone = zone within which Earth-like planet could harbor life Location of habitable zone is function of star luminosity L. For constant stellar flux, distance to star scales as L1/2 Examples: Sun → habitable zone is at ~1 AU Rigel (B type star) Proxima Centauri (M type star) Habitable planets Potentially habitable planet : – Planet mass sufficiently large to retain atmosphere, but sufficiently low to avoid becoming gaseous giant – Planet distance to star allows surface temperature suitable for liquid water (habitable zone) Habitable zone = zone within which Earth-like planet could harbor life Location of habitable zone is function of star luminosity L. -
Information Bulletin on Variable Stars
COMMISSIONS AND OF THE I A U INFORMATION BULLETIN ON VARIABLE STARS Nos November July EDITORS L SZABADOS K OLAH TECHNICAL EDITOR A HOLL TYPESETTING K ORI ADMINISTRATION Zs KOVARI EDITORIAL BOARD L A BALONA M BREGER E BUDDING M deGROOT E GUINAN D S HALL P HARMANEC M JERZYKIEWICZ K C LEUNG M RODONO N N SAMUS J SMAK C STERKEN Chair H BUDAPEST XI I Box HUNGARY URL httpwwwkonkolyhuIBVSIBVShtml HU ISSN COPYRIGHT NOTICE IBVS is published on b ehalf of the th and nd Commissions of the IAU by the Konkoly Observatory Budap est Hungary Individual issues could b e downloaded for scientic and educational purp oses free of charge Bibliographic information of the recent issues could b e entered to indexing sys tems No IBVS issues may b e stored in a public retrieval system in any form or by any means electronic or otherwise without the prior written p ermission of the publishers Prior written p ermission of the publishers is required for entering IBVS issues to an electronic indexing or bibliographic system to o CONTENTS C STERKEN A JONES B VOS I ZEGELAAR AM van GENDEREN M de GROOT On the Cyclicity of the S Dor Phases in AG Carinae ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: : J BOROVICKA L SAROUNOVA The Period and Lightcurve of NSV ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::: W LILLER AF JONES A New Very Long Period Variable Star in Norma ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::: EA KARITSKAYA VP GORANSKIJ Unusual Fading of V Cygni Cyg X in Early November ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -
Exoplanet Community Report
JPL Publication 09‐3 Exoplanet Community Report Edited by: P. R. Lawson, W. A. Traub and S. C. Unwin National Aeronautics and Space Administration Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Pasadena, California March 2009 The work described in this publication was performed at a number of organizations, including the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Publication was provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Compiling and publication support was provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology under a contract with NASA. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not constitute or imply its endorsement by the United States Government, or the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. © 2009. All rights reserved. The exoplanet community’s top priority is that a line of probeclass missions for exoplanets be established, leading to a flagship mission at the earliest opportunity. iii Contents 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................................................1 1.2 EXOPLANET FORUM 2008: THE PROCESS OF CONSENSUS BEGINS.....................................................2 -
FY13 High-Level Deliverables
National Optical Astronomy Observatory Fiscal Year Annual Report for FY 2013 (1 October 2012 – 30 September 2013) Submitted to the National Science Foundation Pursuant to Cooperative Support Agreement No. AST-0950945 13 December 2013 Revised 18 September 2014 Contents NOAO MISSION PROFILE .................................................................................................... 1 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................ 2 2 NOAO ACCOMPLISHMENTS ....................................................................................... 4 2.1 Achievements ..................................................................................................... 4 2.2 Status of Vision and Goals ................................................................................. 5 2.2.1 Status of FY13 High-Level Deliverables ............................................ 5 2.2.2 FY13 Planned vs. Actual Spending and Revenues .............................. 8 2.3 Challenges and Their Impacts ............................................................................ 9 3 SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITIES AND FINDINGS .............................................................. 11 3.1 Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory ....................................................... 11 3.2 Kitt Peak National Observatory ....................................................................... 14 3.3 Gemini Observatory ........................................................................................ -
Blue Dots Team Transits Working Group Review
**FULL TITLE** ASP Conference Series, Vol. **VOLUME**, **YEAR OF PUBLICATION** **NAMES OF EDITORS** Blue Dots Team Transits Working Group Review A. Sozzetti1, C. Afonso2, R. Alonso3, D. L. Blank4, C. Catala5, H. Deeg6, J. L. Grenfell7, C. Hellier8, D. W. Latham9, D. Minniti10, F. Pont11, and H. Rauer12 Abstract. Transiting planet systems offer an unique opportunity to obser- vationally constrain proposed models of the interiors (radius, composition) and atmospheres (chemistry, dynamics) of extrasolar planets. The spectacular suc- cesses of ground-based transit surveys (more than 60 transiting systems known to-date) and the host of multi-wavelength, spectro-photometric follow-up stud- ies, carried out in particular by HST and Spitzer, have paved the way to the next generation of transit search projects, which are currently ongoing (CoRoT, Kepler), or planned. The possibility of detecting and characterizing transiting Earth-sized planets in the habitable zone of their parent stars appears tanta- lizingly close. In this contribution we briefly review the power of the transit technique for characterization of extrasolar planets, summarize the state of the art of both ground-based and space-borne transit search programs, and illustrate how the science of planetary transits fits within the Blue Dots perspective. 1. Introduction Within the framework of the Blue-Dots Team (BDT) initiative (http://www.blue-dots.net/), the primary goal of the Transits Working Group (TWG) is to gauge the potential and limitations of transit photometry (and follow-up measurements) as a tool 1INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Torino, Strada Osservatorio 20, I-10025 Pino Torinese, Italy 2Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, K¨onigstuhl 17, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany 3Observatoire de Gen´eve, Universit´ede Gen`eve, 51 Ch. -
Research Paper in Nature
LETTER doi:10.1038/nature22055 1 A temperate rocky super-Earth transiting a nearby cool star Jason A. Dittmann1, Jonathan M. Irwin1, David Charbonneau1, Xavier Bonfils2,3, Nicola Astudillo-Defru4, Raphaëlle D. Haywood1, Zachory K. Berta-Thompson5, Elisabeth R. Newton6, Joseph E. Rodriguez1, Jennifer G. Winters1, Thiam-Guan Tan7, Jose-Manuel Almenara2,3,4, François Bouchy8, Xavier Delfosse2,3, Thierry Forveille2,3, Christophe Lovis4, Felipe Murgas2,3,9, Francesco Pepe4, Nuno C. Santos10,11, Stephane Udry4, Anaël Wünsche2,3, Gilbert A. Esquerdo1, David W. Latham1 & Courtney D. Dressing12 15 16,17 M dwarf stars, which have masses less than 60 per cent that of Ks magnitude and empirically determined stellar relationships , the Sun, make up 75 per cent of the population of the stars in the we estimate the stellar mass to be 14.6% that of the Sun and the stellar Galaxy1. The atmospheres of orbiting Earth-sized planets are radius to be 18.6% that of the Sun. We estimate the metal content of the observationally accessible via transmission spectroscopy when star to be approximately half that of the Sun ([Fe/H] = −0.24 ± 0.10; all the planets pass in front of these stars2,3. Statistical results suggest errors given in the text are 1σ), and we measure the rotational period that the nearest transiting Earth-sized planet in the liquid-water, of the star to be 131 days from our long-term photometric monitoring habitable zone of an M dwarf star is probably around 10.5 parsecs (see Methods). away4. A temperate planet has been discovered orbiting Proxima On 15 September 2014 ut, MEarth-South identified a potential Centauri, the closest M dwarf5, but it probably does not transit and transit in progress around LHS 1140, and automatically commenced its true mass is unknown. -
Arxiv:1106.0586V3 [Astro-Ph.EP] 7 Jun 2011 Catalogue Through the Internet Is Better Adapted to That Search Table at Table.Shtml Situation
Astronomy & Astrophysics manuscript no. exo.eu-AA-rev-Jun07 May 21, 2018 (DOI: will be inserted by hand later) Defining and cataloging exoplanets: The exoplanet.eu database J. Schneider1, C. Dedieu2, P. Le Sidaner2, R. Savalle2, and I. Zolotukhin234 1 Observatoire de Paris, LUTh-CNRS, UMR 8102, 92190, Meudon, France e-mail: [email protected] 2 Observatoire de Paris, Division Informatique de l'Observatoire, VO-Paris Data Centre, UMS2201 CNRS/INSU, France 3 Observatoire de Paris, LERMA, UMR 8112, 61 Av. de l'Observatoire, 75014 Paris, France 4 Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow State University, 13 Universitetsky prospect, Moscow, 119992, Russia Received ; accepted Abstract. We describe an online database for extra-solar planetary-mass candidates, updated regularly as new data are available. We first discuss criteria for the inclusion of objects in the catalog: "definition” of a planet and several aspects of the confidence level of planet candidates. We are led to point out the conflict between sharpness of belonging or not to a catalogue and fuzziness of the confidence level. We then describe the different tables of extra-solar planetary systems, including unconfirmed candidates (which will ultimately be confirmed, or not, by direct imaging). It also provides online tools: histogrammes of planet and host star data, cross-correlations between these parameters and some VO services. Future evolutions of the database are presented. Key words. Stars: planetary systems { online catalogue { Extrasolar planet 1. Introduction database. In section 3 we discuss criteria for the inclusion of objects in the catalogue. In section 4 we give the de- The study of extrasolar planetary systems has become a tailed content of the catalogue. -
THE PLANETARY REPORT MARCH EQUINOX 2019 VOLUME 39, NUMBER 1 Planetary.Org
THE PLANETARY REPORT MARCH EQUINOX 2019 VOLUME 39, NUMBER 1 planetary.org INSIDE THE ICE GIANTS AFTER VOYAGER, BOTH URANUS AND NEPTUNE HAVE CHANGED THEIR FACES THE SKIES OF MINI-NEPTUNES C CHANGE COMES TO WASHINGTON C PORTRAIT OF MU69 SNAPSHOTS FROM SPACE EMILY STEWART LAKDAWALLA is editor of The Planetary Report. IT’S ONE AMONG millions. Nothing special drew New Horizons to 2014 MU69 (nicknamed “Ultima Thule”), except that it was in the right place at the right time for the fast-flying spacecraft to zip past it. And yet, merely by visiting it, we made 2014 MU69 special, turning it from a dot in the sky so faint that it’s only visible to Hubble into the double-lobed world in this photo. New Horizons will spend another year returning all its data from the encounter, and scientists will spend years—perhaps decades—debating how this odd little binary thing formed and evolved. In the meantime, data artists like Thomas Appéré will help us imagine what 2014 MU69 would look like if we could only travel the NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI/Thomas Appéré NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI/Thomas more than 6 billion kilometers (4 billion miles) that separates Earth from it. —Emily Stewart Lakdawalla SEE MORE AMATEUR-PROCESSED SPACE IMAGES PLANETARY.ORG/AMATEUR SEE MORE EVERY DAY! PLANETARY.ORG/BLOGS 2 THE PLANETARY REPORT C MARCH EQUINOX 2019 CONTENTS MARCH EQUINOX 2019 ADVOCATING FOR SPACE Change Comes to Washington 6 Casey Dreier assesses the sea change brought about by midterm elections in the United States—and what it might mean for space-science policy. -
Courtney D. Dressing
Curriculum Vitae Courtney D. Dressing Astronomy Department University of California at Berkeley Email: [email protected] 501 Campbell Hall #3411 Web: w.astro.berkeley.edu/∼dressing Berkeley, CA 94720-3411 Phone: (510) 642-5275 EDUCATION Ph.D. Harvard University (2015, Astronomy & Astrophysics) Advisor: David Charbonneau Thesis: \The Prevalence and Compositions of Small Planets" A.M. Harvard University (2012, Astronomy & Astrophysics) A.B. Princeton University (2010, Astrophysical Sciences summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi) APPOINTMENTS Assistant Professor, Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley (2017{present) NASA Sagan Fellow, Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology (2015{2017) Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Astronomy, Harvard University (Summer 2015) Research Interests Searching for potentially habitable exoplanets orbiting nearby stars. Characterizing planetary systems and their host stars. Testing models of planet formation by exploring the compositional diversity of small planets. Constraining the frequency of planetary systems orbiting low-mass stars. Investigating the dependence of planet occurrence on stellar and planetary properties. Selected Awards, Prizes, and Honors Hellman Fellow, Hellman Family Faculty Fund (2019) Sloan Research Fellow, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (2019) NASA Group Achievement Award to the LUVOIR Science & Technology Definition Team (2019) Scialog Fellow, Research Corporation for Science Advancement & Heising-Simons Foundation -
The Universe Contents 3 HD 149026 B
History . 64 Antarctica . 136 Utopia Planitia . 209 Umbriel . 286 Comets . 338 In Popular Culture . 66 Great Barrier Reef . 138 Vastitas Borealis . 210 Oberon . 287 Borrelly . 340 The Amazon Rainforest . 140 Titania . 288 C/1861 G1 Thatcher . 341 Universe Mercury . 68 Ngorongoro Conservation Jupiter . 212 Shepherd Moons . 289 Churyamov- Orientation . 72 Area . 142 Orientation . 216 Gerasimenko . 342 Contents Magnetosphere . 73 Great Wall of China . 144 Atmosphere . .217 Neptune . 290 Hale-Bopp . 343 History . 74 History . 218 Orientation . 294 y Halle . 344 BepiColombo Mission . 76 The Moon . 146 Great Red Spot . 222 Magnetosphere . 295 Hartley 2 . 345 In Popular Culture . 77 Orientation . 150 Ring System . 224 History . 296 ONIS . 346 Caloris Planitia . 79 History . 152 Surface . 225 In Popular Culture . 299 ’Oumuamua . 347 In Popular Culture . 156 Shoemaker-Levy 9 . 348 Foreword . 6 Pantheon Fossae . 80 Clouds . 226 Surface/Atmosphere 301 Raditladi Basin . 81 Apollo 11 . 158 Oceans . 227 s Ring . 302 Swift-Tuttle . 349 Orbital Gateway . 160 Tempel 1 . 350 Introduction to the Rachmaninoff Crater . 82 Magnetosphere . 228 Proteus . 303 Universe . 8 Caloris Montes . 83 Lunar Eclipses . .161 Juno Mission . 230 Triton . 304 Tempel-Tuttle . 351 Scale of the Universe . 10 Sea of Tranquility . 163 Io . 232 Nereid . 306 Wild 2 . 352 Modern Observing Venus . 84 South Pole-Aitken Europa . 234 Other Moons . 308 Crater . 164 Methods . .12 Orientation . 88 Ganymede . 236 Oort Cloud . 353 Copernicus Crater . 165 Today’s Telescopes . 14. Atmosphere . 90 Callisto . 238 Non-Planetary Solar System Montes Apenninus . 166 How to Use This Book 16 History . 91 Objects . 310 Exoplanets . 354 Oceanus Procellarum .167 Naming Conventions . 18 In Popular Culture . -
A Framework for Optimizing Exoplanet Targets for the James Webb Space
A FRAMEWORK FOR OPTIMIZING EXOPLANET TARGETS FOR THE JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE f t * A thesis presented to the faculty of ^ San Francisco State University In partial fulfilment of t h y * The Requirements for The Degree Master of Science In Physics with a Concentration in Astronomy by Charles Daniel Fortenbach San Francisco, California December 2018 Copyright by Charles Daniel Fortenbach 2018 CERTIFICATION OF APPROVAL I certify that I have read A FRAMEWORK FOR OPTIMIZING EXO PLANET TARGETS FOR THE JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE by Charles Daniel Fortenbach and that in my opinion this work meets the criteria for approving a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree: Master of Science in Physics with a Con centration in Astronomy at San Francisco State University. Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy Dr. Jqspph Barranco Dept. Chair, Physics & Astronomy Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy Dr. Courtney Dressing-£i—1 Assistant Professor of Astronomy University of California Berkeley A FRAMEWORK FOR OPTIMIZING EXOPLANET TARGETS FOR THE JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE Charles Daniel Fortenbach San Francisco State University 2018 The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will devote a significant amount of ob serving time to the study of exoplanets. It will not be serviceable as was the Hubble Space Telescope, and therefore the spacecraft/instruments will have a relatively lim ited life. It is important to get as much science as possible out of this limited observing time. We provide an analysis framework (including a suite of computer tools) that can be used to optimize the list of exoplanet targets for atmospheric char acterization.