3,997 research outputs found
Transit Detection in the MEarth Survey of Nearby M Dwarfs: Bridging the Clean-First, Search-Later Divide
In the effort to characterize the masses, radii, and atmospheres of
potentially habitable exoplanets, there is an urgent need to find examples of
such planets transiting nearby M dwarfs. The MEarth Project is an ongoing
effort to do so, as a ground-based photometric survey designed to detect
exoplanets as small as 2 Earth radii transiting mid-to-late M dwarfs within 33
pc of the Sun. Unfortunately, identifying transits of such planets in
photometric monitoring is complicated both by the intrinsic stellar variability
that is common among these stars and by the nocturnal cadence, atmospheric
variations, and instrumental systematics that often plague Earth-bound
observatories. Here we summarize the properties of MEarth data gathered so far,
and we present a new framework to detect shallow exoplanet transits in wiggly
and irregularly-spaced light curves. In contrast to previous methods that clean
trends from light curves before searching for transits, this framework assesses
the significance of individual transits simultaneously while modeling
variability, systematics, and the photometric quality of individual nights. Our
Method for Including Starspots and Systematics in the Marginalized Probability
of a Lone Eclipse (MISS MarPLE) uses a computationally efficient semi-Bayesian
approach to explore the vast probability space spanned by the many parameters
of this model, naturally incorporating the uncertainties in these parameters
into its evaluation of candidate events. We show how to combine individual
transits processed by MISS MarPLE into periodic transiting planet candidates
and compare our results to the popular Box-fitting Least Squares (BLS) method
with simulations. By applying MISS MarPLE to observations from the MEarth
Project, we demonstrate the utility of this framework for robustly assessing
the false alarm probability of transit signals in real data. [slightly
abridged]Comment: accepted to the Astronomical Journal, 21 pages, 12 figure
Satellites of Infinite Rank in the Smooth Concordance Group
We conjecture that satellite operations are either constant or have infinite
rank in the concordance group. We reduce this to the difficult case of winding
number zero satellites, and use gauge theory to provide a general
criterion sufficient for the image of a satellite operation to generate an
infinite rank subgroup of the smooth concordance group . Our
criterion applies widely, notably to scores of unknotted patterns for which the
corresponding operators on the topological concordance group are zero. We raise
some questions and conjectures regarding satellite operators and their
interaction with concordance
Time-Distance Imaging of Solar Far-Side Active Regions
It is of great importance to monitor large solar active regions in the
far-side of the Sun for space weather forecast, in particular, to predict their
appearance before they rotate into our view from the solar east limb. Local
helioseismology techniques, including helioseismic holography and
time-distance, have successfully imaged solar far-side active regions. In this
Letter, we further explore the possibility of imaging and improving the image
quality of solar far-side active regions by use of time-distance
helioseismology. In addition to the previously used scheme with four acoustic
signal skips, a five-skip scheme is also included in this newly developed
technique. The combination of both four- and five-skip far-side images
significantly enhances the signal-to-noise ratio in the far-side images, and
reduces spurious signals. The accuracy of the far-side active region imaging is
also assessed using one whole year solar observation.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, accepted by ApJ Letter
Altimetry, gravimetry, GPS and viscoelastic modeling data for the joint inversion for glacial isostatic adjustment in Antarctica (ESA STSE Project REGINA)
The poorly known correction for the ongoing deformation of the solid Earth caused by glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) is a major uncertainty in determining the mass balance of the Antarctic ice sheet from measurements of satellite gravimetry and to a lesser extent satellite altimetry. In the past decade, much progress has been made in consistently modeling ice sheet and solid Earth interactions; however, forward-modeling solutions of GIA in Antarctica remain uncertain due to the sparsity of constraints on the ice sheet evolution, as well as the Earth's rheological properties. An alternative approach towards estimating GIA is the joint inversion of multiple satellite data – namely, satellite gravimetry, satellite altimetry and GPS, which reflect, with different sensitivities, trends in recent glacial changes and GIA. Crucial to the success of this approach is the accuracy of the space-geodetic data sets. Here, we present reprocessed rates of surface-ice elevation change (Envisat/Ice, Cloud,and land Elevation Satellite, ICESat; 2003–2009), gravity field change (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, GRACE; 2003–2009) and bedrock uplift (GPS; 1995–2013). The data analysis is complemented by the forward modeling of viscoelastic response functions to disc load forcing, allowing us to relate GIA-induced surface displacements with gravity changes for different rheological parameters of the solid Earth. The data and modeling results presented here are available in the PANGAEA database (https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.875745). The data sets are the input streams for the joint inversion estimate of present-day ice-mass change and GIA, focusing on Antarctica. However, the methods, code and data provided in this paper can be used to solve other problems, such as volume balances of the Antarctic ice sheet, or can be applied to other geographical regions in the case of the viscoelastic response functions. This paper presents the first of two contributions summarizing the work carried out within a European Space Agency funded study: Regional glacial isostatic adjustment and CryoSat elevation rate corrections in Antarctica (REGINA)
Shingle 2.0: generalising self-consistent and automated domain discretisation for multi-scale geophysical models
The approaches taken to describe and develop spatial discretisations of the
domains required for geophysical simulation models are commonly ad hoc, model
or application specific and under-documented. This is particularly acute for
simulation models that are flexible in their use of multi-scale, anisotropic,
fully unstructured meshes where a relatively large number of heterogeneous
parameters are required to constrain their full description. As a consequence,
it can be difficult to reproduce simulations, ensure a provenance in model data
handling and initialisation, and a challenge to conduct model intercomparisons
rigorously. This paper takes a novel approach to spatial discretisation,
considering it much like a numerical simulation model problem of its own. It
introduces a generalised, extensible, self-documenting approach to carefully
describe, and necessarily fully, the constraints over the heterogeneous
parameter space that determine how a domain is spatially discretised. This
additionally provides a method to accurately record these constraints, using
high-level natural language based abstractions, that enables full accounts of
provenance, sharing and distribution. Together with this description, a
generalised consistent approach to unstructured mesh generation for geophysical
models is developed, that is automated, robust and repeatable, quick-to-draft,
rigorously verified and consistent to the source data throughout. This
interprets the description above to execute a self-consistent spatial
discretisation process, which is automatically validated to expected discrete
characteristics and metrics.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures, 1 table. Submitted for publication and under
revie
Comparison of module usage of project management information system and success rate of construction projects: case study
If construction is about delivering a built asset that is of high quality and efficiency, wouldn t most companies use all the tools and processes available at the highest organizational level possible? A major assumption is made that Prolog Manager is an effective Project Management Information System. Saying Company X will benefit from more module use with Prolog Manager system is not the same as saying they will suffer from lack of module usage. If a company has already attained success using manual systems it successes may continue. To be as successful as possible, maximum utilization of all modules of Prolog Manager at the unique project type organizational level is necessary, and correlations can be made between higher module usage and greater project successes with this type of company size and structure.M.S.Committee Chair: Dr. Linda Thomas-Mobley; Committee Member: Dr. Daniel Castro; Committee Member: Prof. Kathy Roper; Committee Member: Ron L. Smit
LBT observations of the HR 8799 planetary system: First detection of HR8799e in H band
We have performed H and Ks band observations of the planetary system around
HR 8799 using the new AO system at the Large Binocular Telescope and the PISCES
Camera. The excellent instrument performance (Strehl ratios up to 80% in H
band) enabled detection the inner planet HR8799e in the H band for the first
time. The H and Ks magnitudes of HR8799e are similar to those of planets c and
d, with planet e slightly brighter. Therefore, HR8799e is likely slightly more
massive than c and d. We also explored possible orbital configurations and
their orbital stability. We confirm that the orbits of planets b, c and e are
consistent with being circular and coplanar; planet d should have either an
orbital eccentricity of about 0.1 or be non-coplanar with respect to b and c.
Planet e can not be in circular and coplanar orbit in a 4:2:1 mean motion
resonances with c and d, while coplanar and circular orbits are allowed for a
5:2 resonance. The analysis of dynamical stability shows that the system is
highly unstable or chaotic when planetary masses of about 5 MJup for b and 7
MJup for the other planets are adopted. Significant regions of dynamical
stability for timescales of tens of Myr are found when adopting planetary
masses of about 3.5, 5, 5, and 5 Mjup for HR 8799 b, c, d, and e respectively.
These masses are below the current estimates based on the stellar age (30 Myr)
and theoretical models of substellar objects.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, A&A, accepte
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