Related papers: Lightning detection in planetary atmospheres
The detections of small, rocky exoplanets have surged in recent years and will likely continue to do so. To know whether a rocky exoplanet is habitable, we have to characterise its atmosphere and surface. A promising characterisation method…
Although high energy neutrino astronomy is a multidisciplinary science, gamma ray bursts have become the theoretical focus since recent astronomical observations revealed their potential as cosmic particle accelerators. This spotlight is…
This is a White Paper in support of the mission concept of the Large Observatory for X-ray Timing (LOFT), proposed as a medium-sized ESA mission. We discuss the potential of LOFT for the study of high-energy radiation from thunderstorms and…
Astrometry as a technique has so far proved of limited utility when employed as either a follow-up tool or to independently search for planetary mass companions orbiting nearby stars. However, this is bound to change during the next decade.…
This document reports on a series of experimental and theoretical studies conducted to assess the astro-particle physics potential of three future large-scale particle detectors proposed in Europe as next generation underground…
There should be not doubt by now that neutrino telescopes are competitive instruments when it comes to searches for dark matter. Their large detector volumes collect hundreds of neutrinos per day. They scrutinize the whole sky continuously,…
All planets and satellites of our solar system are subject to a continuous rain of material, ranging in size from specks of dust to objects the size of boulders. Upon impact, these objects deposit their kinetic energy into the incident…
With the recent discoveries of hundreds of extrasolar planets, the search for planets like Earth and life in the universe, is quickly gaining momentum. In the future, large space observatories could directly detect the light scattered from…
Detailed characterization of an extrasolar planet's atmosphere provides the best hope for distinguishing the makeup of its outer layers, and the only hope for understanding the interplay between initial composition, chemistry, dynamics &…
Lightning is present in all solar system planets which form clouds in their atmospheres. Cloud formation outside our solar system is possible in objects with much higher temperatures than on Earth or on Jupiter: Brown dwarfs and giant…
An array of large observational programs using ground-based and space-borne telescopes is planned in the next decade. The forthcoming wide-field sky surveys are expected to deliver a sheer volume of data exceeding an exabyte. Processing the…
Microlensing is the most promising method to study the statistical frequency of extra-solar planets orbiting typical (random) stars in the Milky Way, even those several kiloparsecs from Earth. The lensing zone corresponds to orbital…
In the last decade, neutrino astronomy has taken off with two major breakthroughs, the first observation of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos in 2013 and the first evidence for gamma-rays and neutrinos from a single object published in…
Advancements in our understanding of exoplanetary atmospheres, from massive gas giants down to rocky worlds, depend on the constructive challenges between observations and models. We are now on a clear trajectory for improvements in…
Early earthquake warning is a rapidly developing capability that has significant ramifications for many fields, including astronomical observatories. In this work, we describe the susceptibility of astronomical facilities to seismic events,…
The wind mission Aeolus of the European Space Agency was a groundbreaking achievement for Earth observation. Between 2018 and 2023, the space-borne lidar instrument ALADIN onboard the Aeolus satellite measured atmospheric wind profiles with…
The exquisite photometric precision of the Kepler space telescope now puts the detection of extrasolar moons at the horizon. Here, we firstly review observational and analytical techniques that have recently been proposed to find exomoons.…
The field of high energy particle astronomy is exciting and rapidly developing. In the last few years, we have detected extragalactic sources of intense TeV gamma radiation and individual cosmic ray particles with energies exceeding 25…
Microlensing is potentially sensitive to multiple-planet systems containing analogs of all the solar system planets except Mercury, as well as to free floating planets. I review the landscape of microlensing planet searches, beginning with…
The search for habitable conditions beyond Earth is a top priority in astrophysics. The discovery of habitable exoplanets beyond our solar system will require a suite of instruments providing long-term monitoring for detection (e.g. with…