The solar gravitational lens (SGL) is characterized by remarkable properties: it offers brightness amplification of up to a factor of ~1e11 [100 billion amplification] (at 1 um) and extreme angular resolution (~1e-10 arcsec). As such, it allows for extraordinary observational capabilities for direct high-resolution imaging and spectroscopy of Earth-like exoplanets. Above – Artist’s depiction of …
The Carnival of Space 637 is up at Universe Today. Universe Today – Asteroid Hygiea is Round Enough That it Could Qualify as a Dwarf Planet, the Smallest in the Solar System. Within the Main Asteroid Belt, there are a number of larger bodies that have defied traditional classification. The largest among them is Ceres, …
The weird orbits of Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs) and an excess amount of microlensing events in the 5-year OGLE dataset can be simultaneously explained by a new population of astrophysical bodies with mass several times that of Earth. Researchers propose that these objects to be primordial black holes (PBHs) and point out the orbits of TNOs …
1. Newly-built planet-finding instrument installed on Very Large Telescope aims to be first to directly image a habitable exoplanet. The instrument, called NEAR (Near Earths in the AlphaCen Region), is designed to hunt for exoplanets in our neighbouring star system, Alpha Centauri, within the “habitable zones” of its two Sun-like stars, where water could potentially …
Ground Based Optical Interferometry Directly Images Exoplanet and Sees Its Atmosphere
Eight radio telescopes were used to image a black hole. They were ALMA, APEX, the IRAM 30-meter telescope, the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, the Large Millimeter Telescope Alfonso Serrano, the Submillimeter Array, the Submillimeter Telescope, and the South Pole Telescope. Three more radio telescopes will be added to the Event Horizon Telescope project (EHT) over …
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) — a planet-scale array of eight ground-based radio telescopes forged through international collaboration — was designed to capture images of a black hole. Today, in coordinated press conferences across the globe, EHT researchers reveal that they have succeeded, unveiling the first direct visual evidence of a supermassive black hole and …
There is an every-growing need to construct large space telescopes and structures for observation of exo-planets, main-belt asteroids and NEOs. Space observation capabilities can significant enhanced by large-aperture structures. Structures extending to several meters in size could potentially revolutionize observation enabling technologies. These include star-shades for imaging distant objects such as exo-planets and high-resolution large …
Giant 30 and 40 meter diameter ground telescopes will have 13 times more light collection than the best optical telescopes today and with 16 times the sharpness of hubble. This will enable a massive increase in the direct imaging of exoplanets. Extremely Large Telescope 39 meter scope first light 2024 The Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) …
Researchers have identified more than 100 giant planets that potentially host moons capable of supporting life. Their work will guide the design of future telescopes that can detect these potential moons and look for tell-tale signs of life, called biosignatures, in their atmospheres. Since the 2009 launch of NASA’s Kepler telescope, scientists have identified thousands …
CMB (cosmic microwave background) science goals require much improved CMB polarization and CMB-lensing: – Inflation: B-mode polarization and de-lensing – Neutrinos: Neff or “dark radiation” requires de-lensed polarization spectra; ∑mν requires CMB-lensing (and τe). – Dark Energy: CMB-lensing correlations with galaxy surveys; CMB-lensing cluster calibration for SZ cosmology and CMB-lensing requires much improved CMB polarization. …