Space news and Exploration II

[ScienceRocks]

NASA Confirms Water Currently Flows On Mars

http://www.space.com...-discovery.html

Quote

Liquid water flows on Mars today, boosting the odds that life could exist on the Red Planet, a new study suggests.

The enigmatic dark streaks on Mars — called recurring slope lineae (RSL) — that appear seasonally on steep, relatively warm Martian slopes are caused by salty liquid water, researchers said.
"Liquid water is a key requirement for life on Earth," study lead author Lujendra Ojha, of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, told Space.com via email. "The presence of liquid water on Mars' present-day surface therefore points to environment that are more habitable than previously thought."


Ojha was part of the team that first discovered RSL in 2011, by studying images captured by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).

 

[ScienceRocks]

[1509.07912] A Six-Planet System Orbiting HD 219134

A Six-Planet System Orbiting HD 219134

We present new, high-precision Doppler radial velocity (RV) data sets for the nearby K3V star HD 219134. The data include 175 velocities obtained with the HIRES Spectrograph at the Keck I Telescope, and 101 velocities obtained with the Levy Spectrograph at the Automated Planet Finder Telescope (APF) at Lick Observatory. Our observations reveal six new planetary candidates, with orbital periods of P=3.1, 6.8, 22.8, 46.7, 94.2 and 2247 days, spanning masses of msini=3.8, 3.5, 8.9, 21.3, 10.8 and 108 M_earth respectively. Our analysis indicates that the outermost signal is unlikely to be an artifact induced by stellar activity. In addition, several years of precision photometry with the T10 0.8~m automatic photometric telescope (APT) at Fairborn Observatory demonstrated a lack of brightness variability to a limit of ~0.0002 mag, providing strong support for planetary-reflex motion as the source of the radial velocity variations. The HD 219134 system, with its bright (V=5.6) primary provides an excellent opportunity to obtain detailed orbital characterization (and potentially follow-up observations) of a planetary system that resembles many of the multiple-planet systems detected by Kepler, and which are expected to be detected by NASA's forthcoming TESS Mission and by ESA's forthcoming PLATO Mission.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Mars Gets More Habitable with Water Discovery, Scientists Say http://oak.ctx.ly/r/3rx6d




This is great news for kepler 62f and Kepler 186f as their thick atmospheres from them being bigger then earth will almost certainly make them a sure bet for having flowing surface water. Sure they're cold but I wouldn't say they can't have life.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Earth-like planets around small stars likely have protective magnetic fields, aiding chance for life
September 29, 2015 by Peter Kelley

This artist's concept depicts a planetary system. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Earth-like planets orbiting close to small stars probably have magnetic fields that protect them from stellar radiation and help maintain surface conditions that could be conducive to life, according to research from astronomers at the University of Washington.

A planet's magnetic field emanates from its core and is thought to deflect the charged particles of the stellar wind, protecting the atmosphere from being lost to space. Magnetic fields, born from the cooling of a planet's interior, could also protect life on the surface from harmful radiation, as the Earth's magnetic field protects us.

Low-mass stars are among the most common in the universe. Planets orbiting near such stars are easier for astronomers to target for study because when they transit, or pass in front of, their host star, they block a larger fraction of the light than if they transited a more massive star. But because such a star is small and dim, its habitable zone—where an orbiting planet gets the heat necessary to maintain life-friendly liquid water on the surface—also lies relatively close in.



Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2015-09-earth-like-planets-small-stars-magnetic.html#jCp

 

[ScienceRocks]

India successfully launched its first hi-tech telescopes into space to study the stars, as New Delhi seeks to take another step in its ambitious space programme.

A rocket carrying the 1.5-tonne mini space observatory, called Astrosat, along with six foreign satellites, blasted off on schedule from India’s main southern spaceport of Sriharikota on Sunday.

“About 20 minutes after a perfect lift-off at 10am from our spaceport, the rocket has placed Astrosat in the intended orbit,” mission director B Jayakumar said at Sriharikota, about 55 miles from Chennai.

The launch comes a year after India became the first Asian country to send a successful mission to Mars to study the planet, beating rival China and sparking an outpouring of national pride. The unmanned probe, still orbiting Mars, cost a fraction of the missions launched earlier by the US, Russia and European countries.

India’s Astrosat, which includes a telescope that uses X-rays, is expected to orbit 400 miles above the Earth and will study parts of the universe, including black holes and the magnetic fields of stars.

Astrosat, which reportedly cost 1.8bn rupees (£17.7m) to build, has been compared by local media to the Hubble telescope launched by Nasa in 1990. However, Astrosat is much smaller and has a lifespan of five years. The rocket also carries six foreign satellites, including one from the US.

The launch came as the prime minister, Narendra Modi, wound up a visit to Silicon Valley in the US, where he urged top technology companies to bring investment and jobs to India.

India’s successful and frugal Mars mission dominated newspaper front pages at the time and sparked huge pride in its home-grown space programme, while Modi hailed it as a sign of the country’s technological potential.

• This article was amended on 29 September 2015. An earlier version said that Astrosat weighs 150, rather than 1.5 tonnes.

India successfully launches first hi-tech telescopes into space

The 1,550-kg Astrosat, the latest major project by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), is the first satellite in the world capable of studying the universe in the widest yet range of multi-wavelength electromagnetic spectrum.

...

India launches Astrosat, Asia’s unique eye in space

 

[ScienceRocks]

This is one slice of an incredible high resolution,... http://bit.ly/1hcKflF


NASA New Horizons, NewHorizons2015 and AlanStern

 

[ScienceRocks]

KELT-14b and KELT-15b: An Independent Discovery of WASP-122b and a New Hot Jupiter
Joseph E. Rodriguez, Knicole D. Colon, Keivan G. Stassun, Duncan Wright, Phillip A. Cargile, Daniel Bayliss, Joshua Pepper, Karen A. Collins, Rudolf B. Kuhn, Michael B. Lund, Robert J. Siverd, George Zhou, B. Scott Gaudi, C.G. Tinney, Kaloyan Penev, T.G. Tan, Chris Stockdale, Ivan A. Curtis, David James, Stephane Udry, Damien Segransan, Allyson Bieryla, David W. Latham, Thomas G. Beatty, Jason D. Eastman, Gordon Myers, Jonathan Bartz, Joao Bento, Eric L. N. Jensen, Thomas E. Oberst, Daniel J. Stevens
(Submitted on 29 Sep 2015)

We report the discovery of KELT-14b and KELT-15b, two hot Jupiters from the KELT-South survey. KELT-14b, an independent discovery of the recently announced WASP-122b, is an inflated Jupiter mass planet that orbits a ∼5.0+0.3−0.7 Gyr, V = 11.0, G2 star that is near the main sequence turnoff. The host star, KELT-14 (TYC 7638-981-1), has an inferred mass M∗=1.18+0.05−0.07 M⊙ and radius R∗=1.37±−0.08 R⊙, and has Teff=5802+95−92 K, logg = 4.23+0.05−0.04 and [Fe/H] = 0.33±−0.09. The planet orbits with a period of 1.7100588±0.0000025 days (T0=2457091.02863±0.00047) and has a radius RP=1.52+0.12−0.11 RJ and mass MP = 1.196±0.072 MJ, and the eccentricity is consistent with zero. KELT-15b is another inflated Jupiter mass planet that orbits a ∼ 4.6+0.5−0.4 Gyr, V = 11.2, G0 star (TYC 8146-86-1) that is near the "blue hook" stage of evolution prior to the Hertzsprung gap, and has an inferred mass M∗=1.181+0.051−0.050 M⊙ and radius R∗=1.48+0.09−0.04 R⊙, and Teff=6003+56−52 K, logg=4.17+0.02−0.04 and [Fe/H]=0.05±0.03. The planet orbits on a period of 3.329441±0.000016 days (T0 = 2457029.1663±0.0073) and has a radius RP=1.443+0.11−0.057 RJ and mass MP=0.91+0.21−0.22 MJ and an eccentricity consistent with zero. KELT-14b has the second largest expected emission signal in the K-band for known transiting planets brighter than K<10.5. Both KELT-14b and KELT-15b are predicted to have large enough emission signals that their secondary eclipses should be detectable using ground-based observatories.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Amazing new images of Charon hint at violent past

01 October 15

The latest high-resolution images of Pluto's largest moon, Charon, have revealed a world that appears on the verge of splitting in two.

It had been predicted that Charon would be a unremarkable, crater-covered moon, but new images show a complex mix of mountains, canyons, landslides and a varied, colourful surface.

http://www.wired.co....w-horizon-pluto

 

[ScienceRocks]

A planet each for four northern circumpolar stars.

Lee et al. "Search for exoplanet around northern circumpolar stars - Four planets around HD 11755, HD 12648, HD 24064, and 8 Ursae Minoris"
[1509.09012] Search for exoplanet around northern circumpolar stars - Four planets around HD 11755, HD 12648, HD 24064, and 8 Ursae Minoris

Search for exoplanet around northern circumpolar stars - Four planets around HD 11755, HD 12648, HD 24064, and 8 Ursae Minoris
B.-C. Lee, M.-G. Park, S.-M. Lee, G. Jeong, H.-I. Oh, I. Han, J.W. Lee, C.-U. Lee, S.-L. Kim, K.-M. Kim
(Submitted on 30 Sep 2015)

Aims. This program originated as the north pole region extension of the established exoplanet survey using 1.8 m telescope at Bohyunsan Optical Astronomy Observatory (BOAO). The aim of our paper is to find exoplanets in northern circumpolar stars with a precise radial velocity (RV) survey. Methods. We have selected about 200 northern circumpolar stars with the following criteria: Dec. > 70 degree, 0.6 < B-V < 1.6, HIPPARCOS_scat < 0.05 magnitude, and 5.0 < mv < 7.0. The high-resolution, fiber-fed Bohyunsan Observatory Echelle Spectrograph (BOES) was used for the RV survey. Chromospheric activities, the HIPPARCOS photometry, and line bisectors were analyzed to exclude other causes for the RV variations. Results. In 2010, we started to monitor the candidates and have completed initial screening for all stars for the last five years. We present the detection of four new exoplanets. Stars HD 11755, HD 12648, HD 24064, and 8 UMi all show evidence for giant planets in Keplerian motion. The companion to HD 11755 has a minimum mass of 6.5 M_Jup in a 433-day orbit with an eccentricity of 0.19. HD 12648 is orbited by a companion of minimum mass of 2.9 M_Jup having a period of 133 days and an eccentricity of 0.04. Weak surface activity was suspected in HD 24064. However, no evidence was found to be associated with the RV variations. Its companion has a minimum mass of 9.4 M_Jup, a period of 535 days, and an eccentricity of 0.35. Finally, 8 UMi has a minimum mass of 1.5 M_Jup, a period of 93 days with an eccentricity of 0.06.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Forbes
Giant Magellan Telescope To Image Nearby Rocky Exoplanets; Detect Cosmos ...
Forbes - ‎Sep 28, 2015‎

Yet this unique shape will allow the GMT to detect rocky extrasolar planets about 2.5 times further than existing ground-based telescopes, says McCarthy.

In this era of telescopic behemoths, what will the Giant Magellan telescope (GMT) offer to exceed its forthcoming ground-based rivals?

That’s the first question I posed to GMT Project Director Patrick McCarthy, who told me the $1.05 billion optical telescope will have a resolving power ten times greater than the Hubble Space Telescope.

Now scheduled for full completion in 2024 at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile, the GMT, says McCarthy, will enable a field of view nearly as large as a full Moon. This wide field, he says, will allow us to observe many distant galaxies at one time, or to dissect nearby galaxies.

“We should [also] be able to see Jupiter- and Saturn-like planets forming around stars in the Milky Way’s Orion and Taurus star-forming complexes with relative ease,” said McCarthy.

 

[ScienceRocks]

NASA's @MarsCuriosity is beaming home amazing photos of the Red Planet. http://oak.ctx.ly/r/3sr70

 

[ScienceRocks]

Characterization of the K2-19 Multiple-Transiting Planetary System via High-Dispersion Spectroscopy, AO Imaging, and Transit Timing Variations
Norio Narita, Teruyuki Hirano, Akihiko Fukui, Yasunori Hori, Roberto Sanchis-Ojeda, Joshua N. Winn, Tsuguru Ryu, Nobuhiko Kusakabe, Tomoyuki Kudo, Masahiro Onitsuka, Laetitia Delrez, Michael Gillon, Emmanuel Jehin, James McCormac, Matthew Holman, Hideyuki Izumiura, Yoichi Takeda, Motohide Tamura, Kenshi Yanagisawa
(Submitted on 5 Oct 2015)
K2-19 (EPIC201505350) is a unique planetary system in which two transiting planets with radii ~ 7 REarth (inner planet b) and ~ 4 REarth (outer planet c) have orbits that are nearly in a 3:2 mean-motion resonance. Here, we present results of ground-based follow-up observations for the K2-19 planetary system. We have performed high-dispersion spectroscopy and high-contrast adaptive-optics imaging of the host star with the HDS and HiCIAO on the Subaru 8.2m telescope. We find that the host star is relatively old (>8 Gyr) late G-type star (Teff ~ 5350 K, Ms ~ 0.9 MSun, and Rs ~ 0.9 RSun). We do not find any contaminating faint objects near the host star which could be responsible for (or dilute) the transit signals. We have also conducted transit follow-up photometry for the inner planet with KeplerCam on the FLWO 1.2m telescope, TRAPPISTCAM on the TRAPPIST 0.6m telescope, and MuSCAT on the OAO 1.88m telescope. We confirm the presence of transit-timing variations, as previously reported by Armstrong and coworkers. We model the observed transit-timing variations of the inner planet using the synodic chopping formulae given by Deck & Agol (2015). We find two statistically indistinguishable solutions for which the period ratios (Pc/Pb) are located slightly above and below the exact 3:2 commensurability. Despite the degeneracy, we derive the orbital period of the inner planet Pb ~ 7.921 days and the mass of the outer planet Mc ~ 20 MEarth. Additional transit photometry (especially for the outer planet) as well as precise radial-velocity measurements would be helpful to break the degeneracy and to determine the mass of the inner planet.
[1510.01060] Characterization of the K2-19 Multiple-Transiting Planetary System via High-Dispersion Spectroscopy, AO Imaging, and Transit Timing Variations


Photo-dynamical mass determination of the multi-planetary system K2-19
S. C. C. Barros, J. M. Almenara, O. Demangeon, M. Tsantaki, A. Santerne, D. J. Armstrong, D. Barrado, D. Brown, M. Deleuil, J. Lillo-Box, H. Osborn, D. Pollacco, L. Abe, P. Andre, P. Bendjoya, I. Boisse, A. S. Bonomo, F. Bouchy, G. Bruno, J. Rey Cerda, B. Courcol, R. F. Díaz, G. Hébrard, J. Kirk, J.C. Lachurié, K. W. F. Lam, P. Martinez, J. McCormac, C. Moutou, A. Rajpurohit, J.-P. Rivet, J. Spake, O. Suarez, D. Toublanc, S. R. Walker
(Submitted on 5 Oct 2015)
K2-19 is the second multi-planetary system discovered with K2 observations. The system is composed of two Neptune size planets close to the 3:2 mean-motion resonance. To better characterise the system we obtained two additional transit observations of K2-19b and five additional radial velocity observations. These were combined with K2 data and fitted simultaneously with the system dynamics (photo-dynamical model) which increases the precision of the transit time measurements. The higher transit time precision allows us to detect the chopping signal of the dynamic interaction of the planets that in turn permits to uniquely characterise the system. Although the reflex motion of the star was not detected, dynamic modelling of the system allowed us to derive planetary masses of Mb=44±12M⊕ and Mc=15.9±7.0M⊕ for the inner and the outer planets respectively, leading to densities close to Uranus. We also show that our method allows the derivation of mass ratios using only the 80 days of observations during the first campaign of K2.

[1510.01047] Photo-dynamical mass determination of the multi-planetary system K2-19

 

[ScienceRocks]

3D modeling of GJ1214b's atmosphere: formation of inhomogeneous high clouds and observational implications

[1510.01706] 3D modeling of GJ1214b's atmosphere: formation of inhomogeneous high clouds and observational implications
Benjamin Charnay, Victoria Meadows, Amit Misra, Jérémy Leconte, Giada Arney
(Submitted on 6 Oct 2015)

The warm sub-Neptune GJ1214b has a featureless transit spectrum which may be due to the presence of high and thick clouds or haze. Here, we simulate the atmosphere of GJ1214b with a 3D General Circulation Model for cloudy hydrogen-dominated atmospheres, including cloud radiative effects. We show that the atmospheric circulation is strong enough to transport micrometric cloud particles to the upper atmosphere and generally leads to a minimum of cloud at the equator. By scattering stellar light, clouds increase the planetary albedo to 0.4-0.6 and cool the atmosphere below 1 mbar. However, the heating by ZnS clouds leads to the formation of a stratospheric thermal inversion above 10 mbar, with temperatures potentially high enough on the dayside to evaporate KCl clouds. We show that flat transit spectra consistent with HST observations are possible if cloud particle radii are around 0.5 micron, and that such clouds should be optically thin at wavelengths > 3 microns. Using simulated cloudy atmospheres that fit the observed spectra we generate transit, emission and reflection spectra and phase curves for GJ1214b. We show that a stratospheric thermal inversion would be readily accessible in near and mid-infrared atmospheric spectral windows. We find that the amplitude of the thermal phase curves is strongly dependent on metallicity, but only slightly impacted by clouds. Our results suggest that primary and secondary eclipses and phase curves observed by the James Webb Space Telescope in the near to mid-infrared should provide strong constraints on the nature of GJ1214b's atmosphere and clouds.

MOA-2010-BLG-353Lb A Possible Saturn Revealed
N. J. Rattenbury, D. P. Bennett, T. Sumi, N. Koshimoto, I. A. Bond, A. Udalski, F. Abe, A. Bhattacharya, M. Freeman, A.Fukui, Y. Itow, M. C. A. Li, C. H. Ling, K. Masuda, Y. Matsubara, Y. Muraki, K. Ohnishi, To. Saito, A. Sharan, D. J. Sullivan, D. Suzuki, P. J. Tristram, S. Kozlowski, P. Mroz, P. Pietrukowicz, G. Pietrzynski, R. Poleski, D. Skowron, J. Skowron, I. Soszynski, M. K. Szymanski, K. Ulaczyk, L. Wyrzykowski
(Submitted on 5 Oct 2015)
[1510.01393] MOA-2010-BLG-353Lb A Possible Saturn Revealed

We report the discovery of a possible planet in microlensing event MOA-2010-BLG-353. This event was only recognised as having a planetary signal after the microlensing event had finished, and following a systematic analysis of all archival data for binary lens microlensing events collected to date. Data for event MOA-2010-BLG-353 were only recorded by the high cadence observations of the OGLE and MOA survey groups. If we make the assumptions that the probability of the lens star hosting a planet of the measured mass ratio is independent of the lens star mass or distance, and that the source star is in the Galactic bulge, a probability density analysis indicates the planetary system comprises a 0.9^{+1.6}_{-0.53} M_{Saturn} mass planet orbiting a 0.18^{+0.32}_{-0.11} M_{sun} red dwarf star, 6.43^{+1.09}_{-1.15} kpc away. The projected separation of the planet from the host star is 1.72^{+0.56}_{-0.48} AU. Under the additional assumption that the source is on the far side of the Galactic bulge, the probability density analysis favours a lens system comprising a slightly lighter planet.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Blue Origin Reaches Milestone in BE-4 Rocket Engine Development @blueorigin http://oak.ctx.ly/r/3tc4e




ExoMars Mission Will Arrive on Time, Despite Hiccup http://dlvr.it/CMqmQy

 

[ScienceRocks]

A New Analysis of the Exoplanet Hosting System HD 6434
Natalie R. Hinkel, Stephen R. Kane, Genady Pilyavsky, Tabetha S. Boyajian, David J. James, Dominique Naef, Debra A. Fischer, Stephane Udry
(Submitted on 6 Oct 2015)
The current goal of exoplanetary science is not only focused on detecting but characterizing planetary systems in hopes of understanding how they formed, evolved, and relate to the Solar System. The Transit Ephemeris Refinement and Monitoring Survey (TERMS) combines both radial velocity (RV) and photometric data in order to achieve unprecedented ground-based precision in the fundamental properties of nearby, bright, exoplanet-hosting systems. Here we discuss HD 6434 and its planet, HD 6434b, which has a M_p*sin(i) = 0.44 M_J mass and orbits every 22.0170 days with an eccentricity of 0.146. We have combined previously published RV data with new measurements to derive a predicted transit duration of ~6 hrs, or 0.25 days, and a transit probability of 4%. Additionally, we have photometrically observed the planetary system using both the 0.9m and 1.0m telescopes at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, covering 75.4% of the predicted transit window. We reduced the data using the automated TERMS Photometry Pipeline, developed to ensure consistent and accurate results. We determine a dispositive null result for the transit of HD 6434b, excluding the full transit to a depth of 0.9% and grazing transit due to impact parameter limitations to a depth of 1.6%

[1510.01746] A New Analysis of the Exoplanet Hosting System HD 6434


Wow, what a view! http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA19912… #Mars #Curiosity





Celebrating 20 years of exoplanet discovery

• Anthony Wood
• October 7, 2015
• 10 PICTURES

This month marks the 20th anniversary of the first discovery of a planet orbiting a Sun-like star outside of our solar system – 51 Pegasi b. This event represented a watershed moment in astronomy, and since this point, over 1,800 exoplanets have been discovered, with over 1,000 spotted by NASA's Kepler space telescope.

 

[ninja007]

science, infrastructure, r&d!

 

[ScienceRocks]

Tell me why any of those is bad for America? If you can't then I am right.


http://www.davidreneke.com/stop-pres...t-about-pluto/

One of NASA’s principal investigators has let slip the space agency will be making another huge announcement this week regarding Pluto. Stand by for what could be a major revelation!

And if Dr Alan Stern’s comments to a packed hall at the University of Alberta in Canada are anything to go by, we might very well be talking about alien life forms. According to The Guardian, Mr Stern was showcasing the highest resolution photos of Pluto and its largest moon, Charon, when he made some huge announcements.

“This world is alive,” he said. “It has weather, it has hazes in the atmosphere, active geology.” Mr Stern said NASA would be releasing new data and images this Friday (Australian time) that will change everything we know about the solar system. “NASA won’t let me tell you what we’re going to tell you on Thursday. It’s amazing,” he said.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Tell me why any of those is bad for America? If you can't then I am right.


http://www.davidreneke.com/stop-pres...t-about-pluto/

One of NASA’s principal investigators has let slip the space agency will be making another huge announcement this week regarding Pluto. Stand by for what could be a major revelation!

And if Dr Alan Stern’s comments to a packed hall at the University of Alberta in Canada are anything to go by, we might very well be talking about alien life forms. According to The Guardian, Mr Stern was showcasing the highest resolution photos of Pluto and its largest moon, Charon, when he made some huge announcements.

“This world is alive,” he said. “It has weather, it has hazes in the atmosphere, active geology.” Mr Stern said NASA would be releasing new data and images this Friday (Australian time) that will change everything we know about the solar system. “NASA won’t let me tell you what we’re going to tell you on Thursday. It’s amazing,” he said.

....and its still not a planet.

Reinstate Plutos status!

 

[ScienceRocks]

Frank, I agree with you 100%. It has 70 years of history of being a planet and would be the perfect low limit that defines planet and dwarf planet.


Curiosity Rover Team Confirms Ancient Lakes on Mars
Curiosity Rover Team Confirms Ancient Lakes on Mars - SpaceRef

©NASA

Mount Sharp

A new study from the team behind NASA's Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity has confirmed that Mars was once, billions of years ago, capable of storing water in lakes over an extended period of time.

Using data from the Curiosity rover, the team has determined that, long ago, water helped deposit sediment into Gale Crater, where the rover landed more than three years ago. The sediment deposited as layers that formed the foundation for Mount Sharp, the mountain found in the middle of the crater today.

"Observations from the rover suggest that a series of long-lived streams and lakes existed at some point between about 3.8 to 3.3 billion years ago, delivering sediment that slowly built up the lower layers of Mount Sharp," said Ashwin Vasavada, Mars Science Laboratory project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and co-author of the new Science article to be published Friday, Oct. 9.

“Who would have expected a blue sky in the Kuiper Belt?" @NASANewHorizons http://go.nasa.gov/1hsAXlx

 

[ScienceRocks]

An Exo-Jupiter Candidate in the Eclipsing Binary FL Lyr
V. S. Kozyreva, A. I. Bogomazov, B. P. Demkov, L. V. Zotov, A. V. Tutukov
(Submitted on 7 Oct 2015)
Light curves of the eclipsing binary FL Lyr acquired by the Kepler space telescope are analyzed. Eclipse timing measurements for FL Lyr testify to the presence of a third body in the system. Preliminary estimates of its mass and orbital period are > 2M_Jupiter and > 7 yrs. The times of primary minimum in the light curve of FL Lyr during the operation of the Kepler mission are presented.