Computer-aided design of nano-filter construction using DNA self-assembly

Computer-aided design plays a fundamental role in both top-down and bottom-up nano-system fabrication. This paper presents a bottom-up nano-filter patterning process based on DNA self-assembly. In this study we designed a new method to construct fully designed nano-filters with the pores between 5 nm and 9 nm in diameter. Our calculations illustrated that by constructing such a nano-filter we would be able to separate many molecules

A Neptune-mass exoplanet in close orbit around a very low-mass star challenges formation models

Stars and planetary system

Process-based modelling of isoprene emission by oak leaves

The emission rate of the volatile reactive compound isoprene, emitted predominantly by trees, must be known before the level of photo-oxidants produced during summer smog can be predicted reliably. The emission is dependent on plant species and local conditions, and these dependencies must be quantified to be included in any empirical algorithm for the calculation of isoprene production. Experimental measurements of isoprene emission rates are expensive, however, and existing data are scarce and fragmentary. To overcome these difficulties, it is promising to develop a numerical model capable of precisely calculating the isoprene emission by trees for diverse ecosystems, even under changing environmental conditions. A basic process-based biochemical isoprene emission model (BIM) has therefore been developed, which describes the enzymatic reactions in leaf chloroplasts leading to the formation of isoprene under varying environmental conditions (e. g. light intensity, temperature). Concentrations of the precursors of isoprene formation, 3-phosphoglyceric acid and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate, are provided by a published light fleck photosynthesis model. Specific leaf and enzyme parameters were determined for the pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.), so that the BIM is capable of calculating oak-specific isoprene emission rates as influenced by the leaf temperature and light intensity. High correlation was observed between isoprene emission rates calculated by the BIM and the diurnal isoprene emission rates of leaves measured under controlled environmental conditions. The BIM was even capable of describing changes in isoprene emission caused by midday depression of net photosynthesis

An Eccentric Brown Dwarf Eclipsing an M dwarf

We report the discovery of an M = 67 ± 2M J brown dwarf transiting the early M dwarf TOI-2119 on an eccentric orbit (e = 0.3362 ± 0.0005) at an orbital period of 7.200861 ± 0.000005 days. We confirm the brown dwarf nature of the transiting companion using a combination of ground-based and space-based photometry and high-precision velocimetry from the Habitable-zone Planet Finder. Detection of the secondary eclipse with TESS photometry enables a precise determination of the eccentricity and reveals the brown dwarf has a brightness temperature of 2100 ± 80 K, a value which is consistent with an early L dwarf. TOI-2119 is one of the most eccentric known brown dwarfs with P < 10 days, possibly due to the long circularization timescales for an object orbiting an M dwarf. We assess the prospects for determining the obliquity of the host star to probe formation scenarios and the possibility of additional companions in the system using Gaia EDR3 and our radial velocities. © 2022. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

The Habitable-zone Planet Finder Detects a Terrestrial-mass Planet Candidate Closely Orbiting Gliese 1151: The Likely Source of Coherent Low-frequency Radio Emission from an Inactive Star

The coherent low-frequency radio emission detected by LOFAR from Gliese 1151, a quiescent M4.5 dwarf star, has radio emission properties consistent with theoretical expectations of star-planet interactions for an Earth-sized planet on a 1- to 5-day orbit. New near-infrared radial velocities from the Habitable-zone Planet Finder (HPF) spectrometer on the 10 m Hobby-Eberly Telescope at McDonald Observatory, combined with previous velocities from HARPS-N, reveal a periodic Doppler signature consistent with an m sin i = 2.5 ± 0.5M⊕ exoplanet on a 2.02-day orbit. Precise photometry from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) shows no flares or activity signature, consistent with a quiescent M dwarf. While no planetary transit is detected in the TESS data, a weak photometric modulation is detectable in the photometry at a ∼2-day period. This independent detection of a candidate planet signal with the Doppler radial velocity technique adds further weight to the claim of the first detection of star-exoplanet interactions at radio wavelengths and helps validate this emerging technique for the detection of exoplanets. © 2021. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.Immediate accessThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

A harsh test of far-field scrambling with the habitable-zone planet finder and the hobby–eberly telescope

The Habitable-zone Planet Finder (HPF) is a fiber-fed precise radial velocity (RV) spectrograph at the 10 m Hobby–Eberly Telescope (HET). Due to its fixed-altitude design, the HET pupil changes appreciably across a track, leading to significant changes of the fiber far-field illumination. HPF’s fiber scrambler is designed to suppress the impact of these illumination changes on the RVs—but the residual impact on the RV measurements has yet to be probed on-sky. We use GJ 411, a bright early type (M2) M dwarf to probe the effects of far-field input trends due to these pupil variations on HPF RVs. These large changes (∼2x) in the pupil area and centroid present a harsh test of HPF’s far-field scrambling. Our results show that the RVs are effectively decoupled from these extreme far-field input changes due to pupil centroid offsets, attesting to the effectiveness of the scrambler design. This experiment allows us to test the impact of these changes with large pupil variation on-sky, something we would not easily be able to do at a conventional optical telescope. While the pupil and illumination changes expected at these other telescopes are small, scaling from our results enables us to estimate and bound these effects, and show that they are controllable even for the new and next generation of RV instruments in their quest to beat down instrumental noise sources toward the goal of a few cm s-1. © 2021. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.Immediate accessThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

TOI-5344 b: A Saturn-like Planet Orbiting a Super-solar Metallicity M0 Dwarf

We confirm the planetary nature of TOI-5344 b as a transiting giant exoplanet around an M0-dwarf star. TOI-5344 b was discovered with the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite photometry and confirmed with ground-based photometry (the Red Buttes Observatory 0.6 m telescope), radial velocity (the Habitable-zone Planet Finder), and speckle imaging (the NN-Explore Exoplanet Stellar Speckle Imager). TOI-5344 b is a Saturn-like giant planet (ρ = 0.80 − 0.15 + 0.17 g cm−3) with a planetary radius of 9.7 ± 0.5 R ⊕ (0.87 ± 0.04 R Jup) and a planetary mass of 135 − 18 + 17 M ⊕ (0.42 − 0.06 + 0.05 M Jup ). It has an orbital period of 3.792622 − 0.000010 + 0.000010 days and an orbital eccentricity of 0.06 − 0.04 + 0.07 . We measure a high metallicity for TOI-5344 of [Fe/H] = 0.48 ± 0.12, where the high metallicity is consistent with expectations from formation through core accretion. We compare the metallicity of the M-dwarf hosts of giant exoplanets to that of M-dwarf hosts of nongiants (≲8 R ⊕). While the two populations appear to show different metallicity distributions, quantitative tests are prohibited by various sample caveats. © 2023. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]