Optimal Occulter Design for Finding Extrasolar Planets

One proposed method for finding terrestrial planets around nearby stars is to use two spacecraft--a telescope and a specially shaped occulter that is specifically designed to prevent all but a tiny fraction of the starlight from diffracting into the telescope. As the cost and observing cadence for such a mission will be driven largely by the separation between the two spacecraft, it is critically important to design an occulter that can meet the observing goals while flying as close to the telescope as possible. In this paper, we explore this tradeoff between separation and occulter diameter. More specifically, we present a method for designing the shape of the outer edge of an occulter that is as small as possible and gives a shadow that is deep enough and large enough for a 4m telescope to survey the habitable zones of many stars for Earth-like planets. In particular, we show that in order for a 4m telescope to detect in broadband visible light a planet 0.06 arcseconds from a star shining $10^{10}$ times brighter than the planet requires a specially-shaped occulter 50m in diameter positioned about $72,000$ km in front of the telescope.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, 15 subfigure

Morphological Biosignatures and the Search for Life on Mars

This report provides a rationale for the advances in instrumentation and understanding needed to assess claims of ancient and extraterrestrial life made on the basis of morphological biosignatures. Morphological biosignatures consist of bona fide microbial fossils as well as microbially influenced sedimentary structures. To be recognized as evidence of life, microbial fossils must contain chemical and structural attributes uniquely indicative of microbial cells or cellular or extracellular processes. When combined with various research strategies, high-resolution instruments can reveal such attributes and elucidate how morphological fossils form and become altered, thereby improving the ability to recognize them in the geological record on Earth or other planets. Also, before fossilized microbially influenced sedimentary structures can provide evidence of life, criteria to distinguish their biogenic from non-biogenic attributes must be established. This topic can be advanced by developing process-based models. A database of images and spectroscopic data that distinguish the suite of bona fide morphological biosignatures from their abiotic mimics will avoid detection of false-positives for life. The use of high-resolution imaging and spectroscopic instruments, in conjunction with an improved knowledge base of the attributes that demonstrate life, will maximize our ability to recognize and assess the biogenicity of extraterrestrial and ancient terrestrial life

Moderate hypothermia within 6 h of birth plus inhaled xenon versus moderate hypothermia alone after birth asphyxia (TOBY-Xe): a proof-of-concept, open-label, randomised controlled trial

Background Moderate cooling after birth asphyxia is associated with substantial reductions in death and disability, but additional therapies might provide further benefit. We assessed whether the addition of xenon gas, a promising novel therapy, after the initiation of hypothermia for birth asphyxia would result in further improvement. Methods Total Body hypothermia plus Xenon (TOBY-Xe) was a proof-of-concept, randomised, open-label, parallel-group trial done at four intensive-care neonatal units in the UK. Eligible infants were 36–43 weeks of gestational age, had signs of moderate to severe encephalopathy and moderately or severely abnormal background activity for at least 30 min or seizures as shown by amplitude-integrated EEG (aEEG), and had one of the following: Apgar score of 5 or less 10 min after birth, continued need for resuscitation 10 min after birth, or acidosis within 1 h of birth. Participants were allocated in a 1:1 ratio by use of a secure web-based computer-generated randomisation sequence within 12 h of birth to cooling to a rectal temperature of 33·5°C for 72 h (standard treatment) or to cooling in combination with 30% inhaled xenon for 24 h started immediately after randomisation. The primary outcomes were reduction in lactate to N-acetyl aspartate ratio in the thalamus and in preserved fractional anisotropy in the posterior limb of the internal capsule, measured with magnetic resonance spectroscopy and MRI, respectively, within 15 days of birth. The investigator assessing these outcomes was masked to allocation. Analysis was by intention to treat. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00934700, and with ISRCTN, as ISRCTN08886155. Findings The study was done from Jan 31, 2012, to Sept 30, 2014. We enrolled 92 infants, 46 of whom were randomly assigned to cooling only and 46 to xenon plus cooling. 37 infants in the cooling only group and 41 in the cooling plus xenon group underwent magnetic resonance assessments and were included in the analysis of the primary outcomes. We noted no significant differences in lactate to N-acetyl aspartate ratio in the thalamus (geometric mean ratio 1·09, 95% CI 0·90 to 1·32) or fractional anisotropy (mean difference −0·01, 95% CI −0·03 to 0·02) in the posterior limb of the internal capsule between the two groups. Nine infants died in the cooling group and 11 in the xenon group. Two adverse events were reported in the xenon group: subcutaneous fat necrosis and transient desaturation during the MRI. No serious adverse events were recorded. Interpretation Administration of xenon within the delayed timeframe used in this trial is feasible and apparently safe, but is unlikely to enhance the neuroprotective effect of cooling after birth asphyxia

Piezoelectricity: Quantized Charge Transport Driven by Adiabatic Deformations

We study the (zero temperature) quantum piezoelectric response of Harper-like models with broken inversion symmetry. The charge transport in these models is related to topological invariants (Chern numbers). We show that there are arbitrarily small periodic modulations of the atomic positions that lead to nonzero charge transport for the electrons.Comment: Latex, letter. Replaced version with minor change in style. 1 fi

Millimeter and sub-millimeter atmospheric performance at Dome C combining radiosoundings and ATM synthetic spectra

The reliability of astronomical observations at millimeter and sub-millimeter wavelengths closely depends on a low vertical content of water vapor as well as on high atmospheric emission stability. Although Concordia station at Dome C (Antarctica) enjoys good observing conditions in this atmospheric spectral windows, as shown by preliminary site-testing campaigns at different bands and in, not always, time overlapped periods, a dedicated instrument able to continuously determine atmospheric performance for a wide spectral range is not yet planned. In the absence of such measurements, in this paper we suggest a semi-empirical approach to perform an analysis of atmospheric transmission and emission at Dome C to compare the performance for 7 photometric bands ranging from 100 GHz to 2 THz. Radiosoundings data provided by the Routine Meteorological Observations (RMO) Research Project at Concordia station are corrected by temperature and humidity errors and dry biases and then employed to feed ATM (Atmospheric Transmission at Microwaves) code to generate synthetic spectra in the wide spectral range from 100 GHz to 2 THz. To quantify the atmospheric contribution in millimeter and sub-millimeter observations we are considering several photometric bands in which atmospheric quantities are integrated. The observational capabilities of this site at all the selected spectral bands are analyzed considering monthly averaged transmissions joined to the corresponding fluctuations. Transmission and pwv statistics at Dome C derived by our semi-empirical approach are consistent with previous works. It is evident the decreasing of the performance at high frequencies. We propose to introduce a new parameter to compare the quality of a site at different spectral bands, in terms of high transmission and emission stability, the Site Photometric Quality Factor.Comment: accepted to MNRAS with minor revision

Review of high-contrast imaging systems for current and future ground- and space-based telescopes I. Coronagraph design methods and optical performance metrics

The Optimal Optical Coronagraph (OOC) Workshop at the Lorentz Center in September 2017 in Leiden, the Netherlands gathered a diverse group of 25 researchers working on exoplanet instrumentation to stimulate the emergence and sharing of new ideas. In this first installment of a series of three papers summarizing the outcomes of the OOC workshop, we present an overview of design methods and optical performance metrics developed for coronagraph instruments. The design and optimization of coronagraphs for future telescopes has progressed rapidly over the past several years in the context of space mission studies for Exo-C, WFIRST, HabEx, and LUVOIR as well as ground-based telescopes. Design tools have been developed at several institutions to optimize a variety of coronagraph mask types. We aim to give a broad overview of the approaches used, examples of their utility, and provide the optimization tools to the community. Though it is clear that the basic function of coronagraphs is to suppress starlight while maintaining light from off-axis sources, our community lacks a general set of standard performance metrics that apply to both detecting and characterizing exoplanets. The attendees of the OOC workshop agreed that it would benefit our community to clearly define quantities for comparing the performance of coronagraph designs and systems. Therefore, we also present a set of metrics that may be applied to theoretical designs, testbeds, and deployed instruments. We show how these quantities may be used to easily relate the basic properties of the optical instrument to the detection significance of the given point source in the presence of realistic noise.Comment: To appear in Proceedings of the SPIE, vol. 1069

Signature Lipids and Stable Carbon Isotope Analyses of Octopus Spring Hyperthermophilic Communities Compared with those of Aquificales Representatives

The molecular and isotopic compositions of lipid biomarkers of cultured Aquificales genera have been used to study the community and trophic structure of the hyperthermophilic pink streamers and vent biofilm from Octopus Spring. Thermocrinis ruber, Thermocrinis sp. strain HI 11/12, Hydrogenobacter thermophilus TK-6, Aquifex pyrophilus, and Aquifex aeolicus all contained glycerol-ether phospholipids as well as acyl glycerides. The n-C20:1 and cy-C21 fatty acids dominated all of the Aquificales, while the alkyl glycerol ethers were mainly C18:0. These Aquificales biomarkers were major constituents of the lipid extracts of two Octopus Spring samples, a biofilm associated with the siliceous vent walls, and the well-known pink streamer community (PSC). Both the biofilm and the PSC contained mono- and dialkyl glycerol ethers in which C18 and C20 alkyl groups were prevalent. Phospholipid fatty acids included both the Aquificales n-C20:1 and cy-C21, plus a series of isobranched fatty acids (i-C15:0 to i-C21:0), indicating an additional bacterial component. Biomass and lipids from the PSC were depleted in 13C relative to source water CO2 by 10.9 and 17.2%, respectively. The C20?21 fatty acids of the PSC were less depleted than the iso-branched fatty acids, 18.4 and 22.6%, respectively. The biomass of T. ruber grown on CO2 was depleted in 13C by only 3.3% relative to C source. In contrast, biomass was depleted by 19.7% when formate was the C source. Independent of carbon source, T. ruber lipids were heavier than biomass (1.3%). The depletion in the C20?21 fatty acids from the PSC indicates that Thermocrinis biomass must be similarly depleted and too light to be explained by growth on CO2. Accordingly, Thermocrinis in the PSC is likely to have utilized formate, presumably generated in the spring source region

Mars Science Laboratory Drill

This drill (see Figure 1) is the primary sample acquisition element of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) that collects powdered samples from various types of rock (from clays to massive basalts) at depths up to 50 mm below the surface. A rotary-percussive sample acquisition device was developed with an emphasis on toughness and robustness to handle the harsh environment on Mars. It is the first rover-based sample acquisition device to be flight-qualified (see Figure 2). This drill features an autonomous tool change-out on a mobile robot, and novel voice-coil-based percussion. The drill comprises seven subelements. Starting at the end of the drill, there is a bit assembly that cuts the rock and collects the sample. Supporting the bit is a subassembly comprising a chuck mechanism to engage and release the new and worn bits, respectively, and a spindle mechanism to rotate the bit. Just aft of that is a percussion mechanism, which generates hammer blows to break the rock and create the dynamic environment used to flow the powdered sample. These components are mounted to a translation mechanism, which provides linear motion and senses weight-on-bit with a force sensor. There is a passive-contact sensor/stabilizer mechanism that secures the drill fs position on the rock surface, and flex harness management hardware to provide the power and signals to the translating components. The drill housing serves as the primary structure of the turret, to which the additional tools and instruments are attached. The drill bit assembly (DBA) is a passive device that is rotated and hammered in order to cut rock (i.e. science targets) and collect the cuttings (powder) in a sample chamber until ready for transfer to the CHIMRA (Collection and Handling for Interior Martian Rock Analysis). The DBA consists of a 5/8-in. (.1.6- cm) commercial hammer drill bit whose shank has been turned down and machined with deep flutes designed for aggressive cutting removal. Surrounding the shank of the bit is a thick-walled maraging steel collection tube allowing the powdered sample to be augured up the hole into the sample chamber. For robustness, the wall thickness of the DBA was maximized while still ensuring effective sample collection. There are four recesses in the bit tube that are used to retain the fresh bits in their bit box. The rotating bit is supported by a back-to-back duplex bearing pair within a housing that is connected to the outer DBA housing by two titanium diaphragms. The only bearings on the drill in the sample flow are protected by a spring-energized seal, and an integrated shield that diverts the ingested powdered sample from the moving interface. The DBA diaphragms provide radial constraint of the rotating bit and form the sample chambers. Between the diaphragms there is a sample exit tube from which the sample is transferred to the CHIMRA. To ensure that the entire collected sample is retained, no matter the orientation of the drill with respect to gravity during sampling, the pass-through from the forward to the aft chamber resides opposite to the exit tube