Author Topic: Imaging Proxima b?  (Read 27852 times)

Offline Stormbringer

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Re: Imaging Proxima b?
« Reply #60 on: 12/08/2016 10:00 pm »
on a somewhat related note (OK...not really; but too cool to let pass)

Your glasses can now perform as Night Vision Goggles an' other neat stuff

http://www.nextbigfuture.com/2016/12/thin-film-nanocrystal-from-australia.html

Quote
Professor Dragomir Neshev from ANU said the new night-vision glasses could replace the cumbersome and bulky night-vision binoculars currently in use.

"The nano crystals are so small they could be fitted as an ultra-thin film to normal eye glasses to enable night vision," said Professor Neshev from the Nonlinear Physics Centre within the ANU Research School of Physics and Engineering.
« Last Edit: 12/08/2016 10:02 pm by Stormbringer »
When antigravity is outlawed only outlaws will have antigravity.

Offline rdheld

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Re: Imaging Proxima b?
« Reply #61 on: 12/12/2016 11:03 am »
arXiv:1612.02872 [pdf, ps, other]
Title: On the Orbital Inclination of Proxima Centauri b
Authors: Stephen R. Kane, Dawn M. Gelino, Margaret C. Turnbull
Comments: 10 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in AJ
Subjects: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP)
The field of exoplanetary science has seen discovery rates increase dramatically over recent years, due largely to the data from the Kepler mission. Even so, individual discoveries of planets orbiting nearby stars are very important for studies of characterization and near-term follow-up prospects. The recent discovery of a terrestrial planet candidate orbiting Proxima Centauri presents numerous opportunities for studying a Super-Earth within our own stellar backyard. One of the remaining ambiguities of the discovery is the true mass of the planet since the discovery signature was obtained via radial velocities. Here we describe the effect of orbital inclination on the Proxima Centauri planet, in terms of mass, radius, atmosphere, and albedo. We calculate the astrometric, angular separation, and reflected light properties of the planet including the effects of orbital eccentricity. We further provide dynamical simulations that show how the presence of additional terrestrial planets within the Habitable Zone varies as a function of inclination. Finally, we discuss these effects in the context of future space-based photometry and imaging missions that could potentially detect the planetary signature and resolve the inclination and mass ambiguity of the planet.


Offline rdheld

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Re: Imaging Proxima b?
« Reply #62 on: 12/13/2016 11:10 am »
arXiv:1612.03786 [pdf, ps, other]
Title: Proxima reloaded: Unravelling the stellar noise in radial velocities
Authors: M. Damasso, F. Del Sordo
Comments: Letter accepted for publication in A&A
Subjects: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP)
The detection and characterization of Earth-like planets with Doppler signals of the order of 1 m/s currently represent one of the greatest challenge for extrasolar-planet hunters. As results for such findings are often controversial, it is desirable to provide independent confirmations of the discoveries. Testing different models for the suppression of non-Keplerian stellar signals usually plaguing radial velocity data is essential to ensuring findings are robust and reproducible. Using an alternative treatment of the stellar noise to that discussed in the discovery paper, we re-analyze the radial velocity data that led to the detection of a candidate terrestrial planet orbiting the star Proxima Centauri. We aim at confirming the existence of this outstanding planet, and test the existence of a second planetary signal. Our technique jointly models Keplerian signals and residual correlated signals (the noise ) in radial velocities using Gaussian Processes. We analyse only radial velocity measurements without including other ancillary data. In a second step, we compare our outputs with results coming from photometry, to provide a consistent physical interpretation. Our analysis is performed in a Bayesian framework to quantify the robustness of our findings. We show that the correlated noise can be successfully modeled as a Gaussian process regression. It contains a periodic term modulated on the stellar rotation period and characterized by an evolutionary timescale of the order of 1 year. Both findings appear to be robust when compared with results obtained from archival photometry. We confirm the existence of a coherent signal described by a Keplerian orbit equation that can be attributed to the planet Proxima b, and provide an independent estimate of the planetary parameters. Our Bayesian analysis dismisses the existence of a second planetary signal in the present dataset

Offline Bynaus

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Re: Imaging Proxima b?
« Reply #63 on: 12/13/2016 12:03 pm »
Using the year unit for anything else than the Earth's year is extremely uncommon in astronomy.

I was curious about the mass of the second planet they have now excluded. From the radial velocity semi-amplitude they give (ca. 1 m/s), I get a mass of roughly 2 M_E (243 days period) and 3.2 M_E (344 days period). Since no planet was found at these values, one can probably say that within that period range, there is no planet with a mass above these values. So, for example, a Mars-sized world would still be possible.
More of my thoughts: www.final-frontier.ch (in German)

Offline Stormbringer

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Offline Star One

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Imaging Proxima b?
« Reply #65 on: 01/07/2017 09:53 pm »
http://www.livescience.com/57418-new-method-search-for-life.html

Thank you for that very interesting article. Due to its closeness and that it is orbiting a relatively dim star Proxima b must be a prime target for this technique.
« Last Edit: 01/07/2017 09:54 pm by Star One »

Offline Stormbringer

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Re: Imaging Proxima b?
« Reply #66 on: 01/07/2017 10:12 pm »
http://www.livescience.com/57418-new-method-search-for-life.html

Thank you for that very interesting article. Due to its closeness and that it is orbiting a relatively dim star Proxima b must be a prime target for this technique.
I think so. at least one hopes so.
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Offline Alpha_Centauri

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Re: Imaging Proxima b?
« Reply #67 on: 01/08/2017 10:53 am »
The paper explaining the technique is here;

https://arxiv.org/abs/1503.01136
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Combining high-dispersion spectroscopy (HDS) with high contrast imaging (HCI): Probing rocky planets around our nearest neighbors

I believe this paper applying the technique to Sphere/Espresso was mentioned somewhere previously;

https://arxiv.org/abs/1609.03082
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Atmospheric characterization of Proxima b by coupling the Sphere high-contrast imager to the Espresso spectrograph

Offline Star One

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Re: Imaging Proxima b?
« Reply #68 on: 01/08/2017 06:50 pm »
Looking at one of the speakers here we should hear more about Proxima b.

http://europeanastrofest.com/conference/

Offline Alpha_Centauri

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Re: Imaging Proxima b?
« Reply #69 on: 01/10/2017 09:09 pm »
Surprised this hasn't already been posted. 

https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1702/
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VLT to Search for Planets in Alpha Centauri System

ESO has signed an agreement with the Breakthrough Initiatives to adapt the Very Large Telescope instrumentation in Chile to conduct a search for planets in the nearby star system Alpha Centauri. Such planets could be the targets for an eventual launch of miniature space probes by the Breakthrough Starshot initiative.

ESO, represented by the Director General, Tim de Zeeuw, has signed an agreement with the Breakthrough Initiatives, represented by Pete Worden, Chairman of the Breakthrough Prize Foundation and Executive Director of the Breakthrough Initiatives. The agreement provides funds for the VISIR (VLT Imager and Spectrometer for mid-Infrared) instrument, mounted at ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) to be modified in order to greatly enhance its ability to search for potentially habitable planets around Alpha Centauri, the closest stellar system to the Earth. The agreement also provides for telescope time to allow a careful search programme to be conducted in 2019.

The instrument is probably most recognised from this recent image;
https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1623a/

They plan to add a coronagraph to boost contrast (being mostly mid-infrared significantly helps also).  It also has a relatively high-resolution cross dispersed spectrometer. I wonder if they can apply the techniques noted above? I suspect it will focus on A Cen A&B rather than C.

Offline Star One

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Imaging Proxima b?
« Reply #70 on: 01/10/2017 09:14 pm »
Surprised this hasn't already been posted. 

https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1702/
Quote
VLT to Search for Planets in Alpha Centauri System

ESO has signed an agreement with the Breakthrough Initiatives to adapt the Very Large Telescope instrumentation in Chile to conduct a search for planets in the nearby star system Alpha Centauri. Such planets could be the targets for an eventual launch of miniature space probes by the Breakthrough Starshot initiative.

ESO, represented by the Director General, Tim de Zeeuw, has signed an agreement with the Breakthrough Initiatives, represented by Pete Worden, Chairman of the Breakthrough Prize Foundation and Executive Director of the Breakthrough Initiatives. The agreement provides funds for the VISIR (VLT Imager and Spectrometer for mid-Infrared) instrument, mounted at ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) to be modified in order to greatly enhance its ability to search for potentially habitable planets around Alpha Centauri, the closest stellar system to the Earth. The agreement also provides for telescope time to allow a careful search programme to be conducted in 2019.

The instrument is probably most recognised from this recent image;
https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1623a/

They plan to add a coronagraph to boost contrast (being mostly mid-infrared significantly helps also).  It also has a relatively high-resolution cross dispersed spectrometer. I wonder if they can apply the techniques noted above? I suspect it will focus on A Cen A&B rather than C.

I posted it in the breakthrough initiative thread yesterday as that seemed this most appropriate one to me.
« Last Edit: 01/10/2017 09:14 pm by Star One »

Offline Alpha_Centauri

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Re: Imaging Proxima b?
« Reply #71 on: 01/10/2017 09:16 pm »
Oh, didn't realise there was one.

Offline Star One

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Offline Stormbringer

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Re: Imaging Proxima b?
« Reply #73 on: 01/11/2017 04:52 pm »
There is an article somewhere (NBF) about a private group that is donating an instrument to one of the major telescopes on the condition that that scope give serious scope time for imaging alpha proxima.
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Offline Alpha_Centauri

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Re: Imaging Proxima b?
« Reply #74 on: 01/11/2017 05:51 pm »
That story is the one I posted above.
« Last Edit: 01/11/2017 06:06 pm by Alpha_Centauri »

Offline Star One

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Imaging Proxima b?
« Reply #75 on: 01/12/2017 03:14 pm »
New article on the VLT upgrade funded by Breakthrough Initiatives.

Quote
As Professor Avi Loeb – the Frank B. Baird, Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard and a member of the Breakthrough Starshot Advisory Committee – told Universe Today via email:

“We hope that the partnership between the Breakthrough Prize Foundation and ESO will lead to the discovery of new habitable planets around the nearest stars. Once discovered, we could search for the molecular signatures of life in the atmosphere of these planets, and potentially even send a spacecraft that will reach them within our lifetime. The latter is the driver for the Starshot Initiative. The discovery of habitable nearby planets will provide us with targets for photography by gram-scale spacecrafts, launched at a fraction of the speed of light and  equipped with cameras. For example, we would like to find out whether such planets are covered by blue oceans, green vegetation or yellow deserts.”



http://www.universetoday.com/132777/breakthrough-search-planets-closest-star-system-earth/
« Last Edit: 01/12/2017 03:19 pm by Star One »

 

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