Related papers: Echoes from the Moon
Large surface temperatures on the illuminated hemisphere of the Moon can lead it to contribute a significant amount of flux to spatially unresolved infrared (IR) observations of the Earth-Moon system, especially at wavelengths where Earth's…
The Moon is a unique platform for fundamental astrophysical measurements of gravitation, the Sun, and the Universe. Lacking a permanent ionosphere and, on the farside, shielded from terrestrial radio emissions, a radio telescope on the Moon…
A next-generation lunar laser ranging apparatus using the 3.5 m telescope at the Apache Point Observatory in southern New Mexico has begun science operation. APOLLO (the Apache Point Observatory Lunar Laser-ranging Operation) has achieved…
The orbital displacement of the Moon is known to a precision on the order of centimeters from the lunar laser ranging data, while the lunar profile's confidence level is still only about 200 m. The lunar motion is used to measure the solar…
We study the problem of localizing a configuration of points and planes from the collection of point-to-plane distances. This problem models simultaneous localization and mapping from acoustic echoes as well as the notable "structure from…
Space-based observatories at the second Sun-Earth Lagrange Point (L2) offer a unique opportunity to efficiently determine the orbits of distant solar system objects by taking advantage of the parallax effect that arises from nearly…
While no conclusive detections of exomoons have been reported to date, planet formation theories predict that satellites should be a common outcome of the collisional dynamics in early extrasolar systems. Such satellites have the potential…
Nearby giant exoplanets offer an opportunity to search for moons (exomoons) orbiting them. Here, we present a simulation framework for investigating the possibilities of detecting exomoons via their astrometric signal in planet-to-star…
We show that at wavelengths comparable to the length of the shower produced by an Ultra-High Energy cosmic ray or neutrino, radio signals are an extremely efficient way to detect these particles. First results are presented of an analysis…
Recently Wi\'sniewska et al. demonstrated observationally how the acoustic cutoff frequency varies with height in the solar atmosphere including the upper photosphere and the lower and middle chromosphere, and showed that the observational…
We investigate the influence of lunar-like satellites on the infrared orbital light curves of Earth-analog extra-solar planets. Such light curves will be obtained by NASA's Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) and ESA's Darwin missions as a…
We have measured the gamma-ray emission spectrum of the Moon using the data collected by the Large Area Telescope onboard the Fermi satellite during its first 7 years of operation, in the energy range from 30 MeV up to a few GeV. We have…
In this paper, we propose a method to estimate the proximity of an acoustic reflector, e.g., a wall, using ego-noise, i.e., the noise produced by the moving parts of a listening robot. This is achieved by estimating the times of arrival of…
A new technique has been devised for the analysis of extensive air shower data in observing the effect of the moon on this data. In this technique the number of EAS events with arrival directions falling in error circles centered about the…
Polarization during a lunar eclipse is a forgotten mystery. Coyne & Pellicori (1970) reported the detection of significant polarization during the lunar eclipse on 1968 April 13. Multiple scattering during the first transmission through the…
Parallax is the most important astronomical method for determining the distances from the Earth to nearby stars. We present two hands-on activities that explore the concepts and practice of parallax measurement. The first activity is a…
The extraction of the sky-averaged 21 cm signal from Cosmic Dawn and the Epoch of Reionization faces significant challenges. The bright and anisotropic Galactic foreground, which is 4 - 5 orders of magnitude brighter than the 21 cm signal,…
We perform a situational diagnosis in topics of astronomy of pre-service elementary teachers in order to try and develop didactic tools that better collaborate with their formal education. In this work we present the instrument we designed…
We present an improved model for the antenna phase center motion effect for high-gain mechanically steerable ground-based and spacecraft-mounted antennas that takes into account non-perfect antenna pointing. Using tracking data of the…
An acoustic method is presented for analyzing the time of falling motion. A ball is dropped from a measured height. The dropping device makes a distinct sound a well-determined time (roughly 14 milliseconds) after release. The ball…