GeoEye-1 Will Be A High-Res Eye In The Sky Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:29:00 -0400 The GeoEye-1 satellite will be capable of making out details on Earth just 16 inches across. It will be the highest resolution satellite run by a private company; it's images will be marketed to a range of governments and private customers. Europe Considers Joining Space-Faring Nations Tue, 19 Aug 2008 10:35:00 -0400 Europe's space agency reached two milestones earlier this year. A European-built lab was installed at the International Space Station, and Europe launched a robotic cargo vehicle that successfully docked with the station. The European Space Agency is thinking about converting the vehicle so it could take astronauts into orbit. Tensions With Russia May Hurt NASA Program Fri, 15 Aug 2008 16:18:00 -0400 The conflict with Russia over Georgia might affect NASA's ability to get astronauts to the international space station after the space shuttle gets retired in 2010. Congress must pass a special waiver by Sept. 30 so NASA can buy Soyuz capsule flights. What Makes Our Solar System Special? Fri, 08 Aug 2008 15:02:00 -0400 Researchers say that if the conditions had been slightly different for our solar system, planets could have careened into the sun or been expelled into deep space. Also: A volunteer astronomer spots a strange gaseous object some are calling a "cosmic ghost." Phoenix Finds A Salt Compound On Mars Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:07:00 -0400 NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has detected a salt found on Earth on the surface of Mars. The salt, called perchlorate, is used in fireworks and rocket fuel. The news follows the recent confirmation of the presence of water on the Red Planet. Space Company Hopes To Cut Cost Of Launches Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:44:00 -0400 A private company called SpaceX has failed three times to reach orbit with one of its rockets. But the company says it's learning from its failures and still hopes to radically decrease the cost of putting objects in space.
Research on Exoplanets - STARE uses precise time-series photometry to search for extrasolar giant planets transiting their parent stars.
Space - Two Architectures Chosen for Terrestrial Planet Finder - Discover NASA's plan for advanced telescope searches for Earth-like planets around other stars. Learn about 2 separate missions with distinct designs to achieve the goal.
Meta Description: [ Included in the nation's vision for space in 2004 and beyond is a plan for NASA to "conduct advanced telescope searches for Earth-like planets and habitable environments around other stars." To meet this challenge, NASA has chosen to fly two separate missions with distinct and complementary archi... ]
500A Planet from the Early Universe - Astronomers have found the oldest and most distant planet known in the universe.
Meta Description: [ Astronomers have found the oldest and most distant planet known in the universe. ]
Anglo-Australian Planet Search - Long-term southern hemisphere program being carried with the 3.9 m Anglo-Australian Telescope.
Meta Description: [ Public access page AAPS ]
California and Carnegie Planet Search - The site of California and Carnegie program for extrasolar planet search.
Meta Description: [ Discovery of exoplanets, orbits, masses, and eccentricities by Doppler method. ]
500Darwin - Space Infrared Interferometer Project - Designed for general astrophysics and search for signs of life on Earth-like planets orbiting nearby stars. It is a candidate cornerstone 9 for a European Space Agency mission in 2015.
Eddington (ESA SCIENCE) - ESA space-telescope designed to seek out extrasolar planets and investigate the internal structure of stars. (Mission cancelled Nov. 2003)
European Extra-Solar Planet Consortium - EXPORT is a consortium of European astronomers using the telescopes on La Palma and Tenerife to study extra-solar planets, as well as the formation and evolution of protoplanetary systems.
Meta Description: [ EXPORT Home Page. EXPORT is a consortium of
European astronomers using the telescopes on La Palma and Tenerife to study
extra-solar planets ]
ExNPS Road Map - August 1996 - NASA Origins program report on the progress and future plans for the discovery of extrasolar planetary systems.
Extrasolar Group Study - Planet-finding assessment by the School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham 2004.
Meta Description: [ Krioma.net - A site based on the thoughts of Samuel George - the guy behind Krioma.net. The thoughts mostly stem from his life experiences which mostly include astrophysics, astronomy, beer, football, music and computers. ]
Extrasolar Planet Detection with the AFOE - Extrasolar Planet Detection with the AFOE The Advanced Fiber-Optic Echelle (AFOE) spectrometer is a fiber-fed, bench-mounted echelle spectrograph, located at the 1.5m telescope of the Whipple Observatory, near Tucson, Arizona.
Full-sky Astrometric Mapping Explorer - FAME is an astrometric satellite designed to determine with unprecedented accuracy the positions, distances, and motions of 40 million stars within our galactic neighborhood. It is a collaborative effort between the U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO) and several other institutions.
Geneva Extrasolar Planet Search - The extrasolar planet search in Geneva. This team has found in '95 the first extrasolar planets around the star 51 Pegasi.
404James Webb Space Telescope - The James Webb Space Telescope, or JWST, is a large, infrared-optimized space telescope designed to study the formation of the first stars and galaxies, the evolution of galaxies and the production of elements by stars, and the process of star and planet formation.
Meta Description: [ James Webb Space Telescope ]
List of links treating of extrasolar planets and their detection - This page presents a list of carefully selected links to very informative sites about extra solar planets.
Meta Description: [ Portal to selected sites about extrasolar planets and their detection ]
Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics (MOA) - A joint Japanese/New Zealand project established to carry out astrophysical observations using a gravitational microlensing technique. Applications include research for extra-solar planets, dark matter, stellar atmospheres, and variable stars. Page includes information on imaging processes, the group's telescope, and publications.
Microvariability and Oscillations os STars - Detection and characterisation of: (1) acoustic oscillations in Sun-like stars, including very old stars (metal-poor subdwarfs) and magnetic stars (roAp), to probe seismically their structures and ages; (2) reflected light from giant exoplanets closely orbiting Sun-like stars, to reveal their sizes and atmospheric compositions; and (3) turbulent variations in massive evolved (Wolf-Rayet) stars to understand how they add gas to the interstellar medium.
Meta Description: [ The MOST microsatellite is Canada's first space telescope, sometimes known as the 'Humble Space Telescope' due to its small size. However, MOST's size belies its great scientific potential, as it will study nearby stars and extrasolar planets by measuring minute variations in the stars' intensity. ]
Nova Celestia - A Guide to Extrasolar Planets - Contains information and free illustrations of Extrasolar planets (carbon planets, gas giants and terrestrial planets), detection methods and missions.
Meta Description: [ Astronomy & Space Art: Extrasolar planets, Extrasolar missions, Extrasolar detection methods, Extrasolar gas giants, Extrasolar carbon planets ]
Optical Long Baseline Interferometry News - NASA JPL's Optical Long Baseline Interferometer project homepage. Aims to increase optical resolution of the local universe sufficient to detect extrasolar planets and other phenomena.
Planet Quest - A NASA and JPL site in search of another Earth
Planet Quest: Missions - Terrestrial Planet Finder - Will study all aspects of planets outside the solar system from their formation and development to the presence and features of those planets orbiting the nearest stars.
Probing Lensing Anomalies NETwork - Worldwide Network of Astronomers Searching for Extra-Solar Planets
Meta Description: [ Worldwide Network of Astronomers Searching for Extra-Solar Planets ]
404Red Dwarf Stars and the Possibility of Life - An analysis of the differences between planets orbiting red dwarf stars including tidal locking and spectrum. Shows how life could develop in these conditions.
Meta Description: [ Investigation into the possibility for the development of life on planets orbiting red dwarf stars, the most common stars in the universe, Possibilities for Life on Planets orbiting Red Dwarf Stars ]
Space - Orbits of planets in binary star systems. Java orbit animations and diagrams of stable retrograde planetary orbits not documented anywhere else.
Meta Description: [ Research about the orbits of planets in binary star
systems and the orbits of multiple star sytems, with animations ]
Terrestrial Planet Finder - Explains NASA's plan to use sensitive telescopes to find planets outside of the solar-system. Includes charts and drawings.
The Big Occulting Steerable Satellite (project) - Mission designed to provide improved resolution of closely spaced objects with comparable brightnesses (binary stars, microlensing events) and to facilitate separation of dim objects from nearby bright objects (such as planets around stars).
Transit search - The purpose of transitsearch.org is to coordinate and direct a cooperative observational effort which will allow experienced amateur astronomers and small college observatories to discover transiting extrasolar planets.
Transits of Extrasolar Planets - The TEP network is a group of collaborators searching for Transits of Extrasolar Planets.
Vulcain Camera Project - NASA Ames Research Centre photometric survey in search of extrasolar planets.
Meta Description: [ The Vulcan Camera Project is searching
for extrasolar planets using transit photometry. The project is sponsored
by the NASA Ames Reseach Center and located at Lick Observatory atop Mt.
Hamilton in California, USA. ]
Vulcan South - South Pole based observatory to detect transits of extrasolar planets.
