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STScI Astronomers Help Develop and Operate World's Most Powerful Planet Finder
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By NASA
Artists Concept of the WASP-77 A b system. A planet swings in front of its star, dimming the starlight we see. Events like these, called transits, provide us with bounties of information about exoplanets–planets around stars other than the Sun. But predicting when these special events occur can be challenging…unless you have help from volunteers.
Luckily, a collaboration of multiple teams of amateur planet-chasers, led by researcher Federico R. Noguer from Arizona State University and researchers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), has taken up the challenge. This collaboration has published the most precise physical and orbital parameters to date for an important exoplanet called WASP-77 A b. These precise parameters help us predict future transit events and are crucial for planning spacecraft observations and accurate atmospheric modeling.
“As a retired dentist and now citizen scientist for Exoplanet Watch, research opportunities like this give me a way to learn and contribute to this amazingly exciting field of astrophysics,” said Anthony Norris, a citizen scientist working on the NASA-funded Exoplanet Watch project.
The study combined amateur astronomy/citizen science data from the Exoplanet Watch and ExoClock projects, as well as the Exoplanet Transit Database. It also incorporated data from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), and La Silla Observatory. Exoplanet Watch invites volunteers to participate in groundbreaking exoplanet research, using their own telescopes to observe exoplanets or by analyzing data others have gathered. You may have read another recent article about how the Exoplanet Watch team helped validate a new exoplanet candidate.
WASP-77 A b is a gas giant exoplanet that orbits a Sun-like star. It’s only about 20% larger than Jupiter. But that’s where the similarities to our solar system end. This blazing hot gas ball orbits right next to its star–more than 200 times closer to its star than our Jupiter!
Want a piece of the action? Join the Exoplanet Watch project and help contribute to cutting-edge exoplanet science! Anyone can participate–participation does not require citizenship in any particular country.
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Last Updated Sep 19, 2024 Related Terms
Astrophysics Citizen Science Exoplanet Science Explore More
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By NASA
Credit: NASA NASA, on behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has selected Lockheed Martin Corp. of Littleton, Colorado, to develop a lightning mapping instrument as part of NOAA’s Geostationary Extended Observations (GeoXO) satellite program.
This cost-plus-award-fee contract is valued at approximately $297.1 million. It includes the development of two flight instruments as well as options for two additional units. The anticipated period of performance for this contract includes support for 10 years of on-orbit operations and five years of on-orbit storage, for a total of 15 years for each flight model. The work will take place at Lockheed Martin’s facilities in Sunnyvale, California, and Littleton, Colorado, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The GeoXO Lightning Mapper will detect, locate, and measure the intensity, duration, and extent of lightning flashes. The instrument will continue critical observations provided by the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites-R (GOES-R) Series Geostationary Lightning Mapper. Data from Lightning Mapper will be used to analyze severe storms, increase warning lead time for hazardous weather, and provide earlier indications of impending lightning strikes to the ground. The data will also be used for hurricane intensity prediction, wildfire detection and response, precipitation estimation, and to mitigate aviation hazards.
Forecasters need lightning information from geostationary orbit because the data are available where other sources are more limited, especially over oceans and in mountainous and rural areas. The data are also available more frequently than local radar and fill in radar coverage gaps.
The contract scope includes the tasks and deliverables necessary to design, analyze, develop, fabricate, integrate, test, verify, and evaluate the lightning mapper instrument in addition to supporting the launch; supplying and maintaining the instrument ground support equipment; and supporting mission operations at the NOAA Satellite Operations Facility in Suitland, Maryland.
The GeoXO Program is the follow-on to the GOES-R Series Program. The GeoXO satellite system will advance Earth observations from geostationary orbit. The mission will supply vital information to address major environmental challenges of the future in support of weather, ocean, and climate operations in the United States. The advanced capabilities from GeoXO will help address our changing planet and the evolving needs of the nation’s data users. Both NASA and NOAA are working to ensure these critical observations are in place by the early 2030s when the GOES-R Series nears the end of its operational lifetime.
Together, NOAA and NASA oversee the development, launch, testing, and operation of all the satellites in the GeoXO Program. NOAA funds and manages the program, operations, and data products. On behalf of NOAA, NASA and commercial partners develop and build the instruments and spacecraft and launch the satellites.
For more information on the GeoXO program, visit:
https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/geoxo
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Liz Vlock
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
elizabeth.a.vlock@nasa.gov
Jeremy Eggers
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
757-824-2958
jeremy.l.eggers@nasa.gov
John Leslie
NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service
202-527-3504
nesdis.pa@noaa.gov
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Last Updated Sep 17, 2024 EditorJessica TaveauLocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
Goddard Space Flight Center GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite) GOES-R Kennedy Space Center View the full article
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By European Space Agency
Swatch has again teamed up with ESA to give space fans a new opportunity to design a custom watch featuring breathtaking images of Earth from space.
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By NASA
The Moon is pictured on Dec. 7, 2022, the day before its Full Moon phase from the International Space Station as it orbited above the southern Indian Ocean.Credit: NASA NASA will coordinate with U.S. government stakeholders, partners, and international standards organizations to establish a Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC) following a policy directive from the White House in April. The agency’s Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) program is leading efforts on creating a coordinated time, which will enable a future lunar ecosystem that could be scalable to other locations in our solar system.
The lunar time will be determined by a weighted average of atomic clocks at the Moon, similar to how scientists calculate Earth’s globally recognized Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Exactly where at the Moon is still to be determined, since current analysis indicates that atomic clocks placed at the Moon’s surface will appear to ‘tick’ faster by microseconds per day. A microsecond is one millionth of a second. NASA and its partners are currently researching which mathematical models will be best for establishing a lunar time.
To put these numbers into perspective, a hummingbird’s wings flap about 50 times per second. Each flap is about .02 seconds, or 20,000 microseconds. So, while 56 microseconds may seem miniscule, when discussing distances in space, tiny bits of time add up.
“For something traveling at the speed of light, 56 microseconds is enough time to travel the distance of approximately 168 football fields,” said Cheryl Gramling, lead on lunar position, navigation, timing, and standards at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “If someone is orbiting the Moon, an observer on Earth who isn’t compensating for the effects of relativity over a day would think that the orbiting astronaut is approximately 168 football fields away from where the astronaut really is.”
As the agency’s Artemis campaign prepares to establish a sustained presence on and around the Moon, NASA’s SCaN team will establish a time standard at the Moon to ensure the critical time difference does not affect the safety of future explorers. The approach to time systems will also be scalable for Mars and other celestial bodies throughout our solar system, enabling long-duration exploration.
As the commercial space industry grows and more nations are active at the Moon, there is a greater need for time standardization. A shared definition of time is an important part of safe, resilient, and sustainable operations,” said Dr. Ben Ashman, navigation lead for lunar relay development, part of NASA’s SCaN program.
NASA’s SCaN program serves as the office for the agency’s space communications operations and navigation. More than 100 NASA and non-NASA missions rely on SCaN’s two networks, the Near Space Network and the Deep Space Network, to support astronauts aboard the International Space Station and future Artemis missions, monitor Earth’s weather and the effects of climate change, support lunar exploration, and uncover the solar system and beyond.
Learn more about NASA’s plan to return to the Moon at:
https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/artemis
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By NASA
Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity Raw Images Images Videos Audio More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions The Solar System The Sun Mercury Venus Earth The Moon Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto & Dwarf Planets Asteroids, Comets & Meteors The Kuiper Belt The Oort Cloud 2 min read
Sols 4295-4296: A Martian Moon and Planet Earth
Using an onboard focusing process, the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) aboard NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity created this product by merging two to eight images previously taken by the MAHLI, which is located on the turret at the end of the rover’s robotic arm. Curiosity performed the merge on Sept. 4, 2024, at 06:30:48 UTC — sol 4294, or Martian day 4,294 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission. The onboard focus merge is sometimes performed on images acquired the same sol as the merge, and sometimes using pictures obtained earlier. Focus merging is a method to make a composite of images of the same target acquired at different focus positions to bring as many features as possible into focus in a single image. The MAHLI focus merge also serves as a means to reduce the number of images sent back to Earth. Each focus merge produces two images: a color, best-focus product and a black-and-white image that scientists can use to estimate focus position for each element of the best-focus product. So up to eight images can be merged, but the number of images returned to Earth is two. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Earth planning date: Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024
Today’s two-sol plan contains the usual science blocks filled with contact science and remote science to observe and assess the geology surrounding us. However, the Mastcam team is hoping to capture a special celestial event above the Martian skyline as one of Mars’ moons, Phobos, will be in conjunction with Earth on the evening of the first sol of this plan. So everyone look up, and smile for the camera!
Coming back to our beautiful workspace, in this plan there is a focus on targeting the different colors and tones we can see in the bedrock with our suite of instruments. In the image above we can see some of these varying tones — including gray areas, lighter-toned areas, and areas of tan-colored bedrock — with an image from the MAHLI instrument, Curiosity’s onboard hand lens.
APXS is targeting “Campfire Lake,” a lighter-toned area, and “Gemini,” a more gray-toned area situated in front of the rover. MAHLI is taking a suite of close-up images of these targets too. ChemCam is then taking two LIBS measurements of “Crazy Lake” and “Foolish Lake,” both of which appear to have lighter tones. Mastcam is documenting this whole area with a workspace mosaic and an 8×2 mosaic of “Picture Puzzle,” named after the rock in the image above that was taken during the previous plan. Mastcam will also be capturing a 6×3 mosaic of an outcrop named “Outguard Spire” that has an interesting gray rim. Looking further afield, ChemCam has planned a long-distance RMI image of the yardang unit and Navcam is taking a suprahorizon movie and dust-devil survey for our continued observations of the atmosphere to round out this plan.
Written by Emma Harris, Graduate Student at Natural History Museum, London
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Last Updated Sep 05, 2024 Related Terms
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