| 1. |
- Tinetti, Giovanna, et al.
(författare)
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The EChO science case
- 2015
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Ingår i: Experimental astronomy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0922-6435 .- 1572-9508. ; 40:2-3, s. 329-391
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The discovery of almost two thousand exoplanets has revealed an unexpectedly diverse planet population. We see gas giants in few-day orbits, whole multi-planet systems within the orbit of Mercury, and new populations of planets with masses between that of the Earth and Neptune-all unknown in the Solar System. Observations to date have shown that our Solar System is certainly not representative of the general population of planets in our Milky Way. The key science questions that urgently need addressing are therefore: What are exoplanets made of? Why are planets as they are? How do planetary systems work and what causes the exceptional diversity observed as compared to the Solar System? The EChO (Exoplanet Characterisation Observatory) space mission was conceived to take up the challenge to explain this diversity in terms of formation, evolution, internal structure and planet and atmospheric composition. This requires in-depth spectroscopic knowledge of the atmospheres of a large and well-defined planet sample for which precise physical, chemical and dynamical information can be obtained. In order to fulfil this ambitious scientific program, EChO was designed as a dedicated survey mission for transit and eclipse spectroscopy capable of observing a large, diverse and well-defined planet sample within its 4-year mission lifetime. The transit and eclipse spectroscopy method, whereby the signal from the star and planet are differentiated using knowledge of the planetary ephemerides, allows us to measure atmospheric signals from the planet at levels of at least 10(-4) relative to the star. This can only be achieved in conjunction with a carefully designed stable payload and satellite platform. It is also necessary to provide broad instantaneous wavelength coverage to detect as many molecular species as possible, to probe the thermal structure of the planetary atmospheres and to correct for the contaminating effects of the stellar photosphere. This requires wavelength coverage of at least 0.55 to 11 mu m with a goal of covering from 0.4 to 16 mu m. Only modest spectral resolving power is needed, with R similar to 300 for wavelengths less than 5 mu m and R similar to 30 for wavelengths greater than this. The transit spectroscopy technique means that no spatial resolution is required. A telescope collecting area of about 1 m(2) is sufficiently large to achieve the necessary spectro-photometric precision: for the Phase A study a 1.13 m(2) telescope, diffraction limited at 3 mu m has been adopted. Placing the satellite at L2 provides a cold and stable thermal environment as well as a large field of regard to allow efficient time-critical observation of targets randomly distributed over the sky. EChO has been conceived to achieve a single goal: exoplanet spectroscopy. The spectral coverage and signal-to-noise to be achieved by EChO, thanks to its high stability and dedicated design, would be a game changer by allowing atmospheric composition to be measured with unparalleled exactness: at least a factor 10 more precise and a factor 10 to 1000 more accurate than current observations. This would enable the detection of molecular abundances three orders of magnitude lower than currently possible and a fourfold increase from the handful of molecules detected to date. Combining these data with estimates of planetary bulk compositions from accurate measurements of their radii and masses would allow degeneracies associated with planetary interior modelling to be broken, giving unique insight into the interior structure and elemental abundances of these alien worlds. EChO would allow scientists to study exoplanets both as a population and as individuals. The mission can target super-Earths, Neptune-like, and Jupiter-like planets, in the very hot to temperate zones (planet temperatures of 300-3000 K) of F to M-type host stars. The EChO core science would be delivered by a three-tier survey. The EChO Chemical Census: This is a broad survey of a few-hundred exoplanets, which allows us to explore the spectroscopic and chemical diversity of the exoplanet population as a whole. The EChO Origin: This is a deep survey of a subsample of tens of exoplanets for which significantly higher signal to noise and spectral resolution spectra can be obtained to explain the origin of the exoplanet diversity (such as formation mechanisms, chemical processes, atmospheric escape). The EChO Rosetta Stones: This is an ultra-high accuracy survey targeting a subsample of select exoplanets. These will be the bright "benchmark" cases for which a large number of measurements would be taken to explore temporal variations, and to obtain two and three dimensional spatial information on the atmospheric conditions through eclipse-mapping techniques. If EChO were launched today, the exoplanets currently observed are sufficient to provide a large and diverse sample. The Chemical Census survey would consist of > 160 exoplanets with a range of planetary sizes, temperatures, orbital parameters and stellar host properties. Additionally, over the next 10 years, several new ground- and space-based transit photometric surveys and missions will come on-line (e.g. NGTS, CHEOPS, TESS, PLATO), which will specifically focus on finding bright, nearby systems. The current rapid rate of discovery would allow the target list to be further optimised in the years prior to EChO's launch and enable the atmospheric characterisation of hundreds of planets.
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| 2. |
- de Jong, R. S., et al.
(författare)
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4MOST : Project overview and information for the First Call for Proposals
- 2019
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Ingår i: The Messenger. - : European Southern Observatory. - 0722-6691. ; 175, s. 3-11
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- We introduce the 4-metre Multi-Object Spectroscopic Telescope (4MOST), a new high-multiplex, wide-field spectroscopic survey facility under development for the four-metre-class Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) at Paranal. Its key specifications are: a large field of view (FoV) of 4.2 square degrees and a high multiplex capability, with 1624 fibres feeding two low-resolution spectrographs (R = λ/Δλ ~ 6500), and 812 fibres transferring light to the high-resolution spectrograph (R ~ 20 000). After a description of the instrument and its expected performance, a short overview is given of its operational scheme and planned 4MOST Consortium science; these aspects are covered in more detail in other articles in this edition of The Messenger. Finally, the processes, schedules, and policies concerning the selection of ESO Community Surveys are presented, commencing with a singular opportunity to submit Letters of Intent for Public Surveys during the first five years of 4MOST operations.
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| 3. |
- Adolph, C, et al.
(författare)
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Measurement of the eta -> 3 pi(0) Dalitz plot distribution with the WASA detector at COSY
- 2009
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Ingår i: Physics Letters B. - : Elsevier BV. - 0370-2693 .- 1873-2445. ; 677:1-2, s. 24-29
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the first production run of the WASA experiment at COSY, the eta decay into three neutral pions was measured in proton-proton interactions at a proton beam kinetic energy of 1.4 GeV. The Dalitz plot of the three pious was Studied using 1.2 x 10(5) fully reconstructed events. and the quadratic slope parameter alpha was determined to be -0.027 +/- 0.008(stat) +/- 0.005(syst). The result is consistent with previous measurements and further corroborates the importance of pion-pion final state interactions. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 4. |
- Boyarchuk, A. A., et al.
(författare)
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Scientific problems addressed by the Spektr-UV space project (world space Observatory-Ultraviolet)
- 2016
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Ingår i: Astronomy reports (Print). - 1063-7729 .- 1562-6881. ; 60:1, s. 1-42
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The article presents a review of scientific problems and methods of ultraviolet astronomy, focusing on perspective scientific problems (directions) whose solution requires UV space observatories. These include reionization and the history of star formation in the Universe, searches for dark baryonic matter, physical and chemical processes in the interstellar medium and protoplanetary disks, the physics of accretion and outflows in astrophysical objects, from Active Galactic Nuclei to close binary stars, stellar activity (for both low-mass and high-mass stars), and processes occurring in the atmospheres of both planets in the solar system and exoplanets. Technological progress in UV astronomy achieved in recent years is also considered. The well advanced, international, Russian-led Spektr-UV (World Space Observatory-Ultraviolet) project is described in more detail. This project is directed at creating a major space observatory operational in the ultraviolet (115-310 nm). This observatory will provide an effective, and possibly the only, powerful means of observing in this spectral range over the next ten years, and will be an powerful tool for resolving many topical scientific problems.
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| 5. |
- Marconi, Alessandro, et al.
(författare)
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ELT-HIRES, the high resolution spectrograph for the ELT : Phase A study and path to construction
- 2020
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Ingår i: Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy VIII. - : SPIE - International Society for Optical Engineering. - 9781510636828 - 9781510636811
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- HIRES is the high-resolution spectrograph of the European Extremely Large Telescope at optical and near-infrared wavelengths. It consists of three fibre-fed spectrographs providing a wavelength coverage of 0.4-1.8 µm (goal 0.35-2.4 µm) at a spectral resolution of 100,000. The fibre-feeding allows HIRES to have several, interchangeable observing modes including a SCAO module and a small diffraction-limited IFU in the NIR. Therefore, it will be able to operate both in seeing- and diffraction-limited modes. Its modularity will ensure that HIRES can be placed entirely on the Nasmyth platform, if enough mass and volume is available, or part on the Nasmyth and part in the Coud`e room. ELT-HIRES has a wide range of science cases spanning nearly all areas of research in astrophysics and even fundamental physics. Among the top science cases there are the detection of biosignatures from exoplanet atmospheres, finding the fingerprints of the first generation of stars (PopIII), tests on the stability of Nature’s fundamental couplings, and the direct detection of the cosmic acceleration. The HIRES consortium is composed of more than 30 institutes from 14 countries, forming a team of more than 200 scientists and engineers.
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| 6. |
- Adlarson, Patrik, et al.
(författare)
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Search for eta-mesic He-4 in the dd -> (3)Hen pi(0) and dd -> (3)Hep pi(-) reactions with the WASA-at-COSY facility
- 2017
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Ingår i: Nuclear Physics A. - : ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV. - 0375-9474 .- 1873-1554. ; 959, s. 102-115
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The search for He-4-eta bound states was performed with the WASA-at-COSY facility via the measurement of the excitation function for the dd -> (3)Hen pi(0) and dd -> (3)Hep pi(-) processes. The deuteron beam momentum was varied continuously between 2.127 GeV/c and 2.422 GeV/c, corresponding to the excess energy for the dd -> He-4 eta reaction ranging from Q = 70 MeV to Q = 30 MeV. The luminosity was determined based on the dd -> (3)Hen reaction and the quasi-free proton proton scattering via dd -> ppn(spectator)n(spectator) reactions. The excitation functions, determined independently for the measured reactions, do not reveal a structure which could be interpreted as a narrow mesic nucleus. Therefore, the upper limits of the total cross sections for the bound state production and decay in dd -> (4He-eta)(bound) -> (3)Hen pi(0) and dd -> (He-4-eta)(bound) -> (3)Hep pi(-) processes were determined taking into account the isospin relation between the both of the considered channels. The results of the analysis depend on the assumptions of the N* (1535) momentum distribution in the anticipated mesic-He-4. Assuming, as in the previous works, that this is identical with the distribution of nucleons bound with 20 MeV in He-4, we determined that (for the mesic bound state width in the range from 5 MeV to 50 MeV) the upper limits at 90% confidence level are about 3 nb and about 6 nb for n pi(0) and p pi(-) channels, respectively. However, based on the recent theoretical findings of the N*(1535) momentum distribution in the N*-He-3 nucleus bound by 3.6 MeV, we find that the WASA-at-COSY detector acceptance decreases and hence the corresponding upper limits are 5 nb and 10 nb for n pi(0) and p pi(-) channels respectively. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 7. |
- Adlarson, Patrik, et al.
(författare)
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Search for the eta mesic He-3 in the pd -> dp pi(0) reaction with the WASA-at-COSY facility
- 2020
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Ingår i: Physical Review C. Nuclear Physics. - : AMER PHYSICAL SOC. - 0556-2813 .- 1089-490X. ; 102:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The excitation function for the pd -> dp pi(0) reaction has been measured byWASA-at-COSY experiment with the aim of searching for He-3-h mesic nuclei. The measurement in the vicinity of h meson production was performed using a ramped proton beam. The data analysis and interpretation was carried out with the assumption that the h mesic helium decays via the formation of an intermediate N*(1535) resonance. No direct signal of the. mesic nucleus is observed in the excitation function. We determine a new improved upper limit for the total cross section for the bound state production and decay in the pd -> (He-3-eta)(bound) -> dp pi(0) process. It varies between 13 nb to 24 nb for the bound state with width in the range Gamma is an element of ( 5, 50) MeV.
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| 8. |
- Doronin, M., et al.
(författare)
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“Virtual Atomic and Molecular Data Centre” and Astrophysics : Level 2 Release
- 2012
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Ingår i: Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems XXI.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Virtual Atomic and Molecular Data Centre (VAMDC, \lta href=’http://www.vamdc.eu/’\gthttp://www.vamdc.eu/\lt/a\gt) is a consortium between groups involved in the generation, evaluation, and use of atomic and molecular data, funded by the European Union. VAMDC aims to build a reliable, open, flexible and interoperable e-science interface to existing atomic and molecular data. The project will cover establishing the core consortium, the development and deployment of the infrastructure and the development of interfaces to the existing atomic and molecular databases. This paper describes the organisation of the project and the achievements at the end of its second year.
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| 9. |
- Dubernet, M. L., et al.
(författare)
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The virtual atomic and molecular data centre (VAMDC) consortium
- 2016
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Ingår i: Journal of Physics B. - : IOP Publishing. - 0953-4075 .- 1361-6455. ; 49:7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Virtual Atomic and Molecular Data Centre (VAMDC) Consortium is a worldwide consortium which federates atomic and molecular databases through an e-science infrastructure and an organisation to support this activity. About 90% of the inter-connected databases handle data that are used for the interpretation of astronomical spectra and for modelling in many fields of astrophysics. Recently the VAMDC Consortium has connected databases from the radiation damage and the plasma communities, as well as promoting the publication of data from Indian institutes. This paper describes how the VAMDC Consortium is organised for the optimal distribution of atomic and molecular data for scientific research. It is noted that the VAMDC Consortium strongly advocates that authors of research papers using data cite the original experimental and theoretical papers as well as the relevant databases.
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| 10. |
- Dubernet, M. L., et al.
(författare)
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Virtual atomic and molecular data centre
- 2010
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Ingår i: Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer. - 0022-4073 .- 1879-1352. ; 111:15, s. 2151-2159
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Virtual Atomic and Molecular Data Centre (VAMDC, http://www.vamdc.eu) is a European Union funded collaboration between groups involved in the generation, evaluation, and use of atomic and molecular data. VAMDC aims to build a secure, documented, flexible and interoperable e-science environment-based interface to existing atomic and molecular data. The project will cover establishing the core consortium, the development and deployment of the infrastructure and the development of interfaces to the existing atomic and molecular databases. It will also provide a forum for training potential users and dissemination of expertise worldwide. This review describes the scope of the VAMDC project; it provides a survey of the atomic and molecular data sets that will be included plus a discussion of how they will be integrated. Some applications of these data are also discussed.
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