• Title/Summary/Keyword: habitable zone

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Evolution of Galaxy Habitability

  • Hong, Sungwook E.;Gobat, Raphael
    • The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.41 no.2
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    • pp.53.3-54
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    • 2016
  • We combine a semi-analytic model of galaxy evolution with constraints on circumstellar habitable zones and the distribution of terrestrial planets in order to probe the suitability of galaxies of different mass and type to host habitable planets, and how it evolves with time. We find that the fraction of stars with terrestrial planets in their habitable zone (known as habitability) depends only weakly on galaxy mass, with a maximum around $4{\times}10^{10}M_{\odot}$. We estimate that 0.7% of all stars in Milky Way-type galaxies to host a terrestrial planet within their habitable zone, consistent with the value derived from Kepler observations. On the other hand, the habitability of passive galaxies is slightly but systematically higher, unless we assume an unrealistically high sensitivity of planets to supernovae. We find that the overall habitability of galaxies has not changed significantly in the last ~8 Gyr, with most of the habitable planets in local disk galaxies having formed ~1.5 Gyr before our own solar system. Finally, we expect that ${\sim}1.4{\times}10^9$ planets similar to present-day Earth have existed so far in our galaxy.

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LEGACY OF THE SPICA CORONAGRAPH INSTRUMENT (SCI): TOWARD EXOPLANETARY SCIENCE WITH SPACE INFRARED TELESCOPES IN THE FUTURE

  • Enya, Keigo
    • Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.32 no.1
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    • pp.347-349
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    • 2017
  • This paper reviews the legacy of the SPCIA Coronagraph Instrument (SCI) of which the primary scientific objective is the characterization of Jovian exoplanets by coronagraphic spectroscopy in the infrared. Studies on binary shaped pupil mask coronagraphs are described. Cryogenic active optics is discussed as another key technology. Then approaches to observing habitable zones in exoplanetary systems with a passively-cooled space infrared telescope are discussed. The SCI was dropped in a drastic change of the SPICA mission. However, its legacy is useful for space-borne infrared telescopes dedicated for use in exoplanetary science in the future, especially for studies of biomarkers.

On an N-body exoplanet simulator

  • Chaelin, Hong;van Putten, Maurice H.P.M
    • The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.42 no.2
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    • pp.51.3-51.3
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    • 2017
  • We present a general N-body exoplanet simulator in anticipation of upcoming next generation telescopes. Illustrative examples are presented on P-type orbits in stellar binary stellar systems, that should be fairly common as in Kepler 16AB. Specific attention is paid to reduced orbital lfetimes of exoplanets in the habitable zone by the stellar binary, known from Dvorak (1986).

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An exosolar planetary system N-body simulator II

  • Hong, ChaeLin;van Putten, Maurice
    • The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.43 no.1
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    • pp.46.3-47
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    • 2018
  • We present a general N-body exasolar system simulator in anticipation of upcoming searches for exoplanets and even exomoons by next generation telescopes such as James Webb Space Telescope. For habitable zones, traditionally defined by temperature, we here address the essential problem of dynamical stability of planetary orbits. Illustrative examples are presented on P-type orbits in stellar binary systems, that should be fairly common as in Kepler 16b. Specific attention is paid to reduced orbital lifetimes of exoplanets in the habitable zone by the stellar binary, that is propoesed by Maurice van Putten (2017). Especially, we focused on a classic work of complex three-body problem that is well known by Dvorak(1986). We charge his elliptic restricted three-body problem to extend unrestricted three-body problem to look into dynamical motions in view of circumbinary planet, furthermore, we suggest that opposite angular orientation of the planet is relative to the stability of orbits. In here, counter-rotation case is relatively more faster than co-rotation case for being stable. As a result, we find that various initial conditions and thresholds to approach dynamical stability and unstability with unexpectable isolated islands over enormous parameter space. Even, superkeplerian effect of binary is important to habitability of the exoplanet and we can verify that superfaster binary doesn't effect on th planet and increases survivality of planet around the binary.

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MINERVA: SMALL PLANETS FROM SMALL TELESCOPES

  • WITTENMYER, ROBERT A.;JOHNSON, JOHN ASHER;WRIGHT, JASON;MCCRADY, NATE;SWIFT, JONATHAN;BOTTOM, MICHAEL;PLAVCHAN, PETER;RIDDLE, REED;MUIRHEAD, PHILIP S.;HERZIG, ERICH;MYLES, JUSTIN;BLAKE, CULLEN H.;EASTMAN, JASON;BEATTY, THOMAS G.;LIN, BRIAN;ZHAO, MING;GARDNER, PAUL;FALCO, EMILIO;CRISWELL, STEPHEN;NAVA, CHANTANELLE;ROBINSON, CONNOR;HEDRICK, RICHARD;IVARSEN, KEVIN;HJELSTROM, ANNIE;VERA, JON DE;SZENTGYORGYI, ANDREW
    • Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.30 no.2
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    • pp.665-669
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    • 2015
  • The Kepler mission has shown that small planets are extremely common. It is likely that nearly every star in the sky hosts at least one rocky planet. We just need to look hard enough-but this requires vast amounts of telescope time. MINERVA (MINiature Exoplanet Radial Velocity Array) is a dedicated exoplanet observatory with the primary goal of discovering rocky, Earth-like planets orbiting in the habitable zone of bright, nearby stars. The MINERVA team is a collaboration among UNSW Australia, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Penn State University, University of Montana, and the California Institute of Technology. The four-telescope MINERVA array will be sited at the F.L. Whipple Observatory on Mt Hopkins in Arizona, USA. Full science operations will begin in mid-2015 with all four telescopes and a stabilised spectrograph capable of high-precision Doppler velocity measurements. We will observe ~100 of the nearest, brightest, Sun-like stars every night for at least five years. Detailed simulations of the target list and survey strategy lead us to expect $15{\pm}4$ new low-mass planets.

Investigation of Arthropod Communities of Facade Greenery Zones in Seoul (서울시내 벽면녹화에 따른 절지동물상 조사)

  • Lee, Eun-Heui;Chang, Ha-Kyung;Jin, Young-Hun
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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    • v.3 no.4
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    • pp.74-83
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    • 2000
  • Facade Greenery requires little earth and, because it grows vertically, it provides a lot of bio-mass. Facade greenery cannot replace areas such as parks, but it can act as a supplement, particularly in providing a greater degree of nature in our cities. The purpose of this paper is to promote the spread of facade greenery in order to improve the ecological worth of cities. But there is no basic data about fauna in Facade Greenery Zones. Thus for the first time this research investigates what kind of invertebrate communities exist in Facade Greenery Zones. To study the fauna in a facade greenery zone, three sites (Ewha-dong, Kongnung-dong, Daechi-dong) have been selected as representative facade greenery zones in Seoul and 9 plots ($0.5m{\times}0.5m$) were set up. Thirty seven species in 28 families in 10 orders were observed at Ewha-dong, 27 Species in 14 Families in 9 Orders were found at Kongnung-dong, 34 Species in 17 Families 10 in Orders were observed at Daechi-dong. From the investigations (October 3, 1998 and August 25, 1999), a high species diversity in facade greenery zones was proved with low dominance indices, and high diversity indices of the investigated sites. This study shows that facade greenery zone may be habitable space for invertebrates.

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KMTNET: A NETWORK OF 1.6 M WIDE-FIELD OPTICAL TELESCOPES INSTALLED AT THREE SOUTHERN OBSERVATORIES

  • KIM, SEUNG-LEE;LEE, CHUNG-UK;PARK, BYEONG-GON;KIM, DONG-JIN;CHA, SANG-MOK;LEE, YONGSEOK;HAN, CHEONGHO;CHUN, MOO-YOUNG;YUK, INSOO
    • Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.49 no.1
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    • pp.37-44
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    • 2016
  • The Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet) is a wide-field photometric system installed by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI). Here, we present the overall technical specifications of the KMTNet observation system, test observation results, data transfer and image processing procedure, and finally, the KMTNet science programs. The system consists of three 1.6 m wide-field optical telescopes equipped with mosaic CCD cameras of 18k by 18k pixels. Each telescope provides a 2.0 by 2.0 square degree field of view. We have finished installing all three telescopes and cameras sequentially at the Cerro-Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) in Chile, the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) in South Africa, and the Siding Spring Observatory (SSO) in Australia. This network of telescopes, which is spread over three different continents at a similar latitude of about -30 degrees, enables 24-hour continuous monitoring of targets observable in the Southern Hemisphere. The test observations showed good image quality that meets the seeing requirement of less than 1.0 arcsec in I-band. All of the observation data are transferred to the KMTNet data center at KASI via the international network communication and are processed with the KMTNet data pipeline. The primary scientific goal of the KMTNet is to discover numerous extrasolar planets toward the Galactic bulge by using the gravitational microlensing technique, especially earth-mass planets in the habitable zone. During the non-bulge season, the system is used for wide-field photometric survey science on supernovae, asteroids, and external galaxies.