Related papers: Super-ASTROD: Probing primordial gravitational wav…
e-ASTROGAM is a gamma-ray observatory operating in a broad energy range, 0.15 MeV - 3 GeV, recently proposed as the M5 Medium-size mission of the European Space Agency. It has the potential to revolutionize the astronomy of medium-energy…
We report on an all-sky search with the LIGO detectors for periodic gravitational waves in the frequency range 50--1100 Hz and with the frequency's time derivative in the range -5.0E-9 Hz/s to zero. Data from the first eight months of the…
Continuous gravitational waves, i.e., persistent and nearly-monochromatic signals emitted by asymmetric spinning neutron stars, remain elusive. Searches for these signals from unknown binary systems are the most computationally challenging,…
(Abridged) The solar system gas giant planets are oblate due to their rapid rotation. A measurement of the planet's projected oblateness would constrain the planet's rotational period. Planets that are synchronously rotating with their…
Galactic cosmic rays and solar energetic particles (SEPs) affect the performance of instruments carried on board space missions and are the source of the absorbed dose to astronauts. Particles above 100 MeV are the most penetrating. The…
The joint JAXA/NASA ASTRO-H mission is the sixth in a series of highly successful X-ray missions developed by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), with a planned launch in 2015. The ASTRO-H mission is equipped with a…
e-ASTROGAM (enhanced ASTROGAM) is a breakthrough Observatory space mission, with a detector composed by a Silicon tracker, a calorimeter, and an anticoincidence system, dedicated to the study of the non-thermal Universe in the photon energy…
The exploration of interstellar space will require autonomous navigation systems that do not rely on tracking from the Earth. Here I develop a method to determine the 3D position and 3D velocity of a spacecraft in deep space using a star…
The most successful method used so far to search for extrasolar planets is the radial velocity technique, where periodical shifts on the measured emission from a star provide evidence for an orbiting planet. This method has been used on…
The past four years have seen a scientific revolution through the birth of a new field: gravitational-wave astronomy. The first detection of gravitational waves---recognised by the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics---provided unprecedented tests…
The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) is conceived as an 8.4-m telescope with CCD or CMOS focal plane covering most of a field 0.6 m in diameter, the latter exceeding the size of the largest photographic plates ever used in astronomy.…
TRAPPIST-1 is an ultracool dwarf (UCD) with a system of 7 terrestrial planets, at least three of which orbit in the habitable zone. The radio emission of such low-mass stars is poorly understood; few UCDs have been detected at radio…
An overview is given of the Permanent All Sky Survey (PASS) project. The primary goal of PASS is the detection of all transiting giant planets in the entire sky, complete for stellar systems of magnitudes ~ 5.5-10.5. Since the sample stars…
Having achieved 'first-light' right before the opening ceremony on September 25, 2016, the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) is being busily commissioned. Its innovative design requires ~1000 points to be measured…
This paper focuses on the mission design for the Laser Astrometric Test Of Relativity (LATOR). This mission uses laser interferometry between two micro-spacecraft whose lines of sight pass close by the Sun to accurately measure deflection…
Astrometric measurements of stellar systems are becoming significantly more precise and common, with many ground and space-based instruments and missions approaching 1 microarcsecond precision. We examine the multi-wavelength astrometric…
Space provides unique opportunities to test gravitation. By using an interplanetary spacecraft as a test mass, it is possible to test General Relativity at the Solar System distance scale. This requires to compute accurately the trajectory…
e-ASTROGAM is a gamma-ray space mission proposed for the fifth Medium-size mission (M5) of the European Space Agency. It is dedicated to the study of the non-thermal Universe in the photon energy range from ~0.15 MeV to 3 GeV with…
The Breakthrough Starshot project aims to send centimeter-sized, gram-scale "StarChip" probes to Alpha Centauri at a speed of $\sim0.2c$. On the other hand, Zhang \& Li recently proposed that trans-relativistic cameras may be sent to any…
The Planet Hunting and Asteroseismology Explorer Spectrophotometer, PHASES, is a concept for a space-borne instrument to obtain flux calibrated spectra and measure micro-magnitude photometric variations of nearby stars. The science drivers…