Related papers: Detectability of Artificial Lights from Proxima b
The James Webb Space Telescope will enable a wealth of new scientific investigations in the near- and mid-infrared, with sensitivity and spatial/spectral resolution greatly surpassing its predecessors. In this paper, we focus upon Solar…
High-precision spectrophotometry is highly desirable in detecting and characterizing close-in extrasolar planets to learn about their makeup and temperature. For such a goal, a modest-size telescope with a simple low-resolution…
Proxima b is our nearest potentially rocky exoplanet and represents a formidable opportunity for exoplanet science and possibly astrobiology. With an angular separation of only 35~mas (or 0.05~AU) from its host star, Proxima b is however…
In this document, we summarize the main capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) for performing observations of Mars. The distinctive vantage point of JWST at the Sun-Earth Lagrange point (L2) will allow sampling the full…
Large time-domain surveys, when of sufficient scale, provide a greatly increased probability of detecting rare and, in many cases, unexpected events. Indeed, it is these unpredicted and previously unobserved objects that can lead to some of…
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a large (6.6m), cold (50K), infrared-optimized space observatory that will be launched early in the next decade. The observatory will have four instruments: a near-infrared camera, a near-infrared…
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which has recently become operational, is capable of detecting objects at record-breaking redshifts, $z \gtrsim 15$. This is a crucial advance for observational cosmology, as at these redshifts the…
The Zone of Avoidance (ZoA) remains one of the last frontiers in constructing a comprehensive three-dimensional map of the Universe. Galactic extinction, stellar crowding, and confusion noise have historically limited the detection of…
Observing habitable exoplanets that may resemble Earth is a key priority in astronomy that is dependent on not only detecting such worlds, but also ascertaining that apparent signatures of habitability are not due to other sources. Space…
In this study, we propose an investigation into dark photon dark matter (DPDM) within the infrared frequency band, utilizing highly sensitive infrared light detectors commonly integrated into space telescopes, such as the James Webb Space…
We present JWST/NIRSpec observations of a highly magnified star candidate at a photometric redshift of $z_{\mathrm{phot}}\simeq4.8$, previously detected in JWST/NIRCam imaging of the strong lensing (SL) cluster MACS J0647+7015 ($z=0.591$).…
Contrary to some widespread intuitive belief, the night sky brightness perceived by the human eye or any other physical detector does not come (exclusively) from high in the sky. The detected brightness is built up from the scattered…
The probability of detecting a planetary companion of a lensing star during a microlensing event toward the Galactic center, averaged over all relevant event and galactic parameters, when the planet-star mass ratio $q=0.001$ has a maximum…
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will have the sensitivity to detect early low-mass black holes as they transition from "seeds" to supermassive black holes (BHs). Based on the JAGUAR mock catalog of galaxies, we present a clean color…
The upcoming launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will dramatically increase our understanding of exoplanets, particularly through direct imaging. Microlensing and radial velocity surveys indicate that some M-dwarfs host long…
The Near-Inrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a very versatile instrument, offering multiobject and integral field spectroscopy with varying spectral resolution ($\sim$30 to $\sim$3000) over a wide…
Direct imaging of exoplanets will allow us to directly observe the planet in reflected light. Such a scenario may eventually allow for the possibility to scan the planetary surface for the presence of artificial structures made by alien…
The problem of the dark matter in the universe is reviewed. A short history of the subject is given, and several of the most obvious particle candidates for dark matter are identified. Particular focus is given to weakly interacting,…
Microlensing is increasingly gaining recognition as a powerful method for the detection and characterization of extra-solar planetary systems. Naively, one might expect that the probability of detecting the influence of more than one planet…
Next-generation missions designed to detect biosignatures on exoplanets will also be capable of placing constraints on technosignatures (evidence for technological life) on these same worlds. Here, I estimate the detectability of nightside…