A miniature satellite named ASTERIA (Arcsecond Space Telescope Enabling Research in Astrophysics) has measured the throughput of a previously discovered super-Earth exoplanet, 55 Cancri e. This finding shows that miniature satellites, such as ASTERIA, are capable of making sensitive detections of exoplanets via the transit method.
While observing 55 Cancri e, which is known to continue, ASTERIA has measured a minuscule change in brightness, about 0.04 percent, when the superstar crossed his star. This transit measurement is the first of its kind for CubeSats (the class of satellites to which ASTERIA belongs) that are about as big as a suitcase and make a ride to space as secondary payload on missiles used for larger spacecraft.
The ASTERIA team presented updates and lessons on the mission at the Small Satellite Conference in Logan, Utah, last week.
The ASTERIA project is a collaboration between MIT and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, funded through the JPL Phaeton program. The project started in 2010 as a project of a non-graduate class in 16.83 / 12.43 (Space Systems Engineering), in which a technology demonstration of astrophysical measurements with a Cubesat was carried out, with as main aim the training of novice engineers.
The ASTERIA mission of which department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences Class of 1941 Professor of Planetary Sciences Sara Seager is the Principal Investigator – was designed to demonstrate key technologies, including a very stable indication and thermal control for the making extremely accurate measurements of the brightness of stars in a small satellite. Earlier this year, ASTERIA achieved a pointing stability of 0.5 arc second and thermal stability of 0.01 degrees Celsius. These technologies are important for precision photometry, i.e. the measurement of the stellar brightness over time.
Precision photometry, in turn, provides a way to study stellar activity, by passing exoplanets, and other astrophysical phenomena. Several MIT alumni have been involved in the development of ASTERIA from the outset, including Matthew W. Smith Ph.D. & # 39; 14, Christopher Pong ScD & # 39; 14, Alessandra Babuscia Ph.D. & # 39; 12, and Mary Knapp Ph.D. & # 39; 18. Brice-Olivier Demory, a professor at the University of Bern and a former EAPS postdoc who is also a member of the ASTERIA science team, carried out the data reduction that revealed the transit.
The success of ASTERIA shows that CubeSats can perform great science in a small package. This finding has earned ASTERIA the honor of "Mission of the Year", which was presented during the SmallSat conference. The honor is awarded annually to the mission which has shown a significant improvement in the capacity of small satellites weighing less than 150 kilograms. Eligible missions have launched, established communication and acquired results from on-orbit after January 1, 2017.
Now that ASTERIA has proven that it can measure exoplanet transits, it will continue to observe two bright stars nearby to search earlier unknown by exoplanets. Additional funding for ASTERIA operations was provided by the Heising-Simons Foundation.
A miniature satellite named ASTERIA (Arcsecond Space Telescope Enabling Research in Astrophysics) has measured the transit of a previously discovered super-earth exoplanet, 55 Cancri e. This finding shows that miniature satellites, such as ASTERIA, are capable of making sensitive detections of exoplanets via the transit method.
While observing 55 Cancri e, which is known to be transit, ASTERIA measured a minuscule change in brightness, about 0.04 percent, when the superstar crossed his star. This transit measurement is the first of its kind for CubeSats (the class of satellites to which ASTERIA belongs) that are about the size of a suitcase and take a ride to space as secondary payload on missiles used for larger spacecraft.
The ASTERIA team presented updates and lessons on the mission at the Small Satellite Conference in Logan, Utah, last week.
The ASTERIA project is a collaboration between MIT and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, funded through the JPL Phaeton program. The project started in 2010 as a project of a non-graduate class in 16.83 / 12.43 (Space Systems Engineering), in which a technology demonstration of astrophysical measurements with a Cubesat was carried out, with as main aim the training of novice engineers.
The ASTERIA mission of which department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences Class of 1941 Professor of Planetary Sciences Sara Seager is the Principal Investigator – was designed to demonstrate key technologies, including a very stable indication and thermal control for the making extremely accurate measurements of the brightness of stars in a small satellite. Earlier this year, ASTERIA achieved a pointing stability of 0.5 arc second and thermal stability of 0.01 degrees Celsius. These technologies are important for precision photometry, i.e. the measurement of the stellar brightness over time.
Precision photometry, in turn, provides a way to study stellar activity, by passing exoplanets, and other astrophysical phenomena. Several MIT alumni have been involved in the development of ASTERIA from the outset, including Matthew W. Smith Ph.D. & # 39; 14, Christopher Pong ScD & # 39; 14, Alessandra Babuscia Ph.D. & # 39; 12, and Mary Knapp Ph.D. & # 39; 18. Brice-Olivier Demory, a professor at the University of Bern and a former EAPS postdoc who is also a member of the ASTERIA science team, carried out the data reduction that revealed the transit.
The success of ASTERIA shows that CubeSats can perform great science in a small package. This finding has earned ASTERIA the honor of "Mission of the Year", which was presented during the SmallSat conference. The honor is awarded annually to the mission which has shown a significant improvement in the capacity of small satellites weighing less than 150 kilograms. Eligible missions have launched, established communication and acquired results from on-orbit after January 1, 2017.
Now that ASTERIA has proven that it can measure exoplanet transits, it will continue to observe two bright stars nearby to search earlier unknown by exoplanets. Additional funding for ASTERIA operations was provided by the Heising-Simons Foundation.
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