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We have searched for emission from the 557 GHz ortho-water line in the interstellar medium of six nearby starburst galaxies. We used the Odin satellite to observe the 1_10-1_01 transition of o-H2O in the galaxies NGC253, IC342, M82,…

The World Space Observatory for Ultraviolet (WSO-UV) is an orbital optical telescope with a 1.7 m-diameter primary mirror currently under development. The WSO-UV is aimed to operate in the 115-310 nm UV spectral range. Its two major science…

Aims. We used realistic three-dimensional (3D) radiative hydrodynamical (RHD) simulations from the Stagger-grid and synthetic images computed with the radiative transfer code Optim3D to provide interferometric observables to extract the…

Future direct-imaging exoplanet missions such as WFIRST/AFTA, Exo-C, and Exo-S will measure the reflectivity of exoplanets at visible wavelengths. The exoplanets to be observed will be located further away from their parent stars than is…

Since the first discovery of an extra-solar planet around a main-sequence star, in 1995, the number of detected exoplanets has increased enormously. Over the past two decades, observational instruments (both onboard and on ground-based…

Using forward models for representative exoplanet atmospheres and a radiometric instrument model, we have generated synthetic observational data to explore how well the major C- and O-bearing chemical species (CO, CO2, CH4, and H2O),…

Atmospheric retrievals are widely used to constrain exoplanet properties from observed spectra. We investigate how the common nonphysical retrieval assumptions of vertically constant molecule abundances and cloud-free atmospheres affect our…

We present first results of the H_2O Southern Galactic Plane Survey (HOPS), using the Mopra radiotelescope with a broad band backend and a beam size of about 2'. We have observed 100 square degrees of the southern Galactic plane at 12mm…

We explore a new Bayesian method of detecting galaxies from radio interferometric data of the faint sky. Working in the Fourier domain, we fit a single, parameterised galaxy model to simulated visibility data of star-forming galaxies. The…

Current plans call for the first Terrestrial Planet Finder mission, TPF-C, to be a monolithic space telescope with a coronagraph for achieving high contrast. The coronagraph removes the diffracted starlight allowing the nearby planet to be…

Retrieving the physical parameters from spectroscopic observations of exoplanets is key to understanding their atmospheric properties. Exoplanetary atmospheric retrievals are usually based on approximate Bayesian inference and rely on…

Context. Collecting a large variety of exoplanetary atmosphere measurements is crucial to improve our understanding of exoplanets. In this context, it is likely that the field would benefit from broad species surveys, particularly using…

The quest for other habitable worlds and the search for life among them are major goals of modern astronomy. One way to make progress towards these goals is to obtain high-quality spectra of a large number of exoplanets over a broad range…

Inferring the climate and surface conditions of terrestrial exoplanets in the habitable zone is a major goal for the field of exoplanet science. This pursuit will require both statistical analyses of the population of habitable planets as…

Spectroscopic observations are extremely important for determining the composition, structure, and surface gravity of exoplanetary atmospheres. High resolution spectroscopy of the planet itself has only been demonstrated a handful of times.…

Proxima Centauri b provides an unprecedented opportunity to understand the evolution and nature of terrestrial planets orbiting M dwarfs. Although Proxima Cen b orbits within its star's habitable zone, multiple plausible evolutionary paths…

Recent observations with the Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite indicate abundances of gaseous H2O and O2 in dense molecular clouds which are significantly lower than found in standard homogeneous chemistry models. We present here…

Future direct-imaging missions such as the Large Interferometer for Exoplanets (LIFE) aim to observe thermal emission from potentially habitable planets to characterize their surface environments and search for signs of life. Previous…

The design and scale of a future mission to directly image and characterize potentially Earth-like planets will be impacted, to some degree, by the expected yield of such planets. Recent efforts to increase the estimated yields, by creating…

We present the first results of an extensive spectroscopic survey of directly imaged planet host stars. The goal of the survey is the measurement of stellar properties and abundances of 15 elements (including C, O, and S) in these stars. In…