Related papers: Optimal Target Stars in the Search for Life
The next generation of spectroscopic surveys will have a wealth of photometric data available for use in target selection. Selecting the best targets is likely to be one of the most important hurdles in making these spectroscopic campaigns…
This whitepaper discusses the diversity of exoplanets that could be detected by future observations, so that comparative exoplanetology can be performed in the upcoming era of large space-based flagship missions. The primary focus will be…
A tidally-locked planet in its orbit around a star keeps the same face towards the star. This happens when the rotation period of the planet around its own axis becomes equal to its revolution period around the star. Many questions then…
The question of how "smart" active agents, like insects, microorganisms, or future colloidal robots need to steer to optimally reach or discover a target, such as an odor source, food, or a cancer cell in a complex environment has recently…
With the availability of considerably more data, we revisit the question of how special our Solar System is, compared to observed exoplanetary systems. To this goal, we employ a mathematical transformation that allows for a meaningful,…
Terrestrial exoplanets are on the verge of joining the ranks of astronomically accessible objects. Interpreting their observable characteristics, and informing decisions on instrument design and use, will hinge on the ability to model these…
The Einstein rings and proper motions of nearby stars tend to be large. Thus, every year some foreground stars within a few hundred parsecs of Earth induce gravitational lensing events in background stars. In some of these cases, the events…
Four planets have recently been discovered by gravitational microlensing. The most recent of these discoveries is the lowest-mass planet known to exist around a normal star. The detection of planets in gravitational microlensing events was…
Most of our knowledge of planets orbiting nearby stars comes from Doppler surveys. For spaced-based, high-contrast imaging missions, nearby stars with Doppler-discovered planets are attractive targets. The known orbits tell imaging missions…
With more and more extrasolar planets discovered in and around binary star systems, questions concerning the determination of the classical Habitable Zone arise. Do the radiative and gravitational perturbations of the second star influence…
The discovery of a truly habitable exoplanet would be one of the most important events in the history of science. However, the nature and distribution of habitable environments on exoplanets is currently unconstrained. The exoplanet…
One of the most fundamental questions in exoplanetology is to determine whether a given planet is habitable. We estimate the relative likelihood of a planet's propensity towards habitability by considering key physical characteristics such…
Habitability is a measure of an environment's potential to support life, and a habitable exoplanet supports liquid water on its surface. However, a planet's success in maintaining liquid water on its surface is the end result of a complex…
We investigate the hypothesis that the size of the habitable zone around hardened binaries in dense star-forming regions increases. Our results indicate that this hypothesis is essentially incorrect. Although certain binary star…
Many hypotheses have been raised to explain the famous Fermi paradox. One of them is that self-replicating probes could have explored the whole Galaxy, including our Solar System, and that they are still to be detected. In this scenario, it…
Galactic microlensing has the capability to determine the position angle of the detected planets in a sky reference frame. By a broad enough statistics, it is possible to investigate possible anisotropies in the distribution of the orbital…
Large satellite constellations in low-Earth orbit seek to be the infrastructure for global broadband Internet and other telecommunication needs. We briefly review the impacts of satellite constellations on astronomy and show that the…
We investigate how rapid stellar rotation commonly seen in A/F stars can influence planet habitability. Specifically, we model how rapid rotation influences a planet's irradiation and determine the location of the habitable zone for stars…
The Closeby Habitable Exoplanet Survey (CHES) constitutes a mission intricately designed to systematically survey approximately 100 solar-type stars located within the immediate proximity of the solar system, specifically within a range of…
The compositions of stars and planets are connected, yet, the definition of "habitability" and the "habitable zone" only take into account the physical relationship between the star and planet. Planets, however, are made truly habitable by…