Related papers: System Analysis for a high-precision high-accuracy…
Accurate astrometry is crucial for determining orbits of near-Earth-asteroids (NEAs) and therefore better tracking them. This paper reports on a demonstration of 10 milliarcsecond-level astrometric precision on a dozen NEAs using the Pomona…
This tutorial covers the use of absolute astrometry, in particular from the combination of the Hipparcos and Gaia missions, to identify faint companions to nearby stars and to measure the masses and orbits of those companions. Absolute…
We report on the status of the Tierras Observatory, a refurbished 1.3-m ultra-precise fully-automated photometer located at the F. L. Whipple Observatory atop Mt. Hopkins, Arizona. Tierras is designed to limit systematic errors, notably…
With the advent of optical interferometers that will be coming online in the next decade, radial velocity searches for extra-solar planets will be complemented by high angular resolution astrometric measurements. In this paper, we explore…
In the last decade, the Kepler and CoRoT space-photometry missions have demonstrated the potential of asteroseismology as a novel, versatile and powerful tool to perform exquisite tests of stellar physics, and to enable precise and accurate…
The Astro 2020 Decadal Survey "Pathways to Discovery in Astronomy and Astrophysics for the 2020s" has recommended that "after a successful mission and technology maturation program, NASA should embark on a program to realize a mission to…
This study evaluates a technique for determining the mass of a potentially hazardous asteroid from a high-speed flyby in the context of a rapid reconnaissance planetary defense scenario. We consider a host spacecraft that dispenses a small…
Context. The precise determinations of stellar mass at $\sim$1% provide important constraints on stellar evolution models. Accurate parallax measurements can also serve as independent benchmarks for the next Gaia data release. Aims. We aim…
The large number of new planets expected from wide-area transit surveys means that follow-up transmission spectroscopy studies of their atmospheres will be limited by the availability of telescope assets. We argue that telescopes covering a…
Stratospheric High Altitude Balloons (HABs) have great potential as a remote sensing platform for Earth Observations that complements orbiting satellites and low flying drones. At altitudes between 20-35 kms, HABs operate significantly…
Provided that sufficient resources are deployed, we can look forward to an extraordinary future in which we will characterize potentially habitable planets. Until now, we have had to base interpretations of observations on habitability…
In this paper a homomorphic filtering scheme is proposed to improve the estimation of the planet/star radius ratio in astronomical transit signals. The idea is to reduce the effect of the short-term earth atmosphere variations. A two-step…
The low-frequency sky below $\sim$15 MHz (20 m) is obscured by the Earth's ionosphere, the layer of charged particles above the neutral atmosphere. Single spacecraft have made measurements in this band, but cannot achieve high or even…
The rapidly increasing volume of asteroseismic observations on solar-type stars has revealed a need for automated analysis tools. The reason for this is not only that individual analyses of single stars are rather time consuming, but more…
The Planetary Systems Imager (PSI) is a proposed instrument for the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) that provides an extreme adaptive optics (AO) correction to a multi-wavelength instrument suite optimized for high contrast science. PSI's…
China plans to launch a probe (Tianwen-2) around 2025, mainly for exploring the near-Earth asteroid 2016 HO3 . The mission involves close-range exploration, landing, and mining operations that require three-dimensional modeling of the…
High-precision astrometry well beyond the capacities of Gaia will provide a unique way to achieve astrophysical breakthroughs, in particular on the nature of dark matter, and a complete survey of nearby habitable exoplanets. In this…
To fulfill the requirements of space object cataloging and enable automated intelligent responses to anomalous events, we designed a novel observation scheduling system named Sky Survey Schedule (SSS). This framework facilitates coordinated…
Astrometric precision and knowledge of the point spread function are key ingredients for a wide range of astrophysical studies including time-delay cosmography in which strongly lensed quasar systems are used to determine the Hubble…
The search for biosignatures in potentially habitable exoplanets is one of the major astrophysics' drivers for the coming decades, and the prime science goal of the HWO NASA mission, a large UV-Optical-IR space telescope to be launched in…