Related papers: Starshade formation flying I: optical sensing
The solar gravitational lens (SGL) offers unique capabilities for high-resolution imaging of faint, distant objects, such as exoplanets. In the near future, a spacecraft carrying a meter-class telescope with a solar coronagraph would be…
Imaging terrestrial exoplanets around nearby stars is a formidable technical challenge, requiring the development of coronagraphs to suppress the stellar halo of diffracted light at the location of the planet. In this review, we derive the…
Long range observations in the field of astronomy have opened up our understanding of the Solar System, the Galaxy and the wider Universe. In this paper we discuss the idea of direct in-situ reconnaissance of nearby stellar systems, using…
Asteroseismology is among the most powerful observational tools to determine fundamental properties of stars. Space-based photometry has recently enabled the systematic detection of oscillations in exoplanet host stars, allowing a…
Stable massive neutral particles emitted by astrophysical sources undergo deflection under the gravitational potential of our own galaxy. The deflection angle depends on the particle velocity and therefore non-relativistic particles will be…
Using a portable star tracking system, we are able to obtain the geographical position of the observer, longitude, latitude and North direction. In this work, a new optimization method has been applied to improve accuracy in calculation of…
We demonstrate a new technique to search for dark compact objects. When dark matter comprising a dark compact object interacts with photons, the compact object can disperse light traveling though it. As these objects pass between Earth and…
Space interferometry is the inevitable endpoint of high angular resolution astrophysics, and a key technology that can be leveraged to analyse exoplanet formation and atmospheres with exceptional detail. However, the anticipated cost of…
Fast moving celestial objects are characterized by velocities across the celestial sphere that significantly differ from the motions of background stars. In observational images, these objects exhibit distinct shapes, contrasting with the…
Mega-constellations in Low Earth Orbit have the potential to revolutionise worldwide internet access. The concomitant potential of these mega-constellations to impact space sustainability, however, has prompted concern from space actors as…
Spectroscopic follow-up of dozens of transiting planets has revealed the degree of alignment between the equators of stars and the orbits of the planets they host. Here we determine a method, applicable to spotted stars, that can reveal the…
This thesis is part of a large ongoing effort to determine the distance and structure of all star-forming regions within several hundred parsecs of the Sun using radio-interferometric observations. The main goals of this thesis were: (1)…
In this paper, a new technique for camera calibration using only GPS data is presented. A new way of tracking objects that move on a plane in a video is achieved by using the location and size of the bounding box to estimate the distance,…
Near-infrared photometry of transiting extrasolar planets can be of great scientific value. It is however not straightforward to reach the necessary millimagnitude precision. Here we report on our attempts to observe transits and secondary…
Gravitational lensing is the deflection of light rays due to the gravity of intervening masses. This phenomenon is observed in a variety of scales and configurations, involving any non-uniform mass such as planets, stars, galaxies, clusters…
We show that space-based telescopes such as the proposed Terrestrial Planet Finder Coronagraph will be able to detect the light scattered by the interstellar grains along lines of sight passing near stars in our Galaxy. The relative flux of…
A new experimental technique for creating and imaging collisions of micron-sized droplets settling under gravity is presented. A pair of glycerol droplets is suspended in air by means of two optical traps. The droplet relative velocities…
Objects and structures gravitationally decoupled from the Hubble expansion will appear to shrink in angular size as the universe expands. Observations of extragalactic proper motions can thus directly reveal the cosmic expansion. Relatively…
Microarcsecond (uas) astrometry is an indispensable technique to detect earth-like exoplanets, fully characterize exoplanetary orbits, and measure their masses --information critical for assessing their habitability. Highly accurate…
Microlensing is able to reveal multiple body systems located several kilo-parsec away from the Earth. Since it does not require the measurement of light from the lens, microlensing is sensitive to a range of objects from free-floating…