Tranquility Science Duty Logs

[Ferre Flamand]

Tranquility Station/Ops + Tranquility Science Lab - Stardate 230830.0115
Reporting Officer: LtCmdr Ferre Flamand
Other Officers on Duty : None

Duty Log - Daily Scientific and Observation Report

Surface environmental conditions
- Nitrogen = 77.4 percent
- Oxygen = 21.3 percent
- Argon = 0.88 percent
- Neon, Helium, Krypton = 0.0008 percent
- Carbon dioxide = 0.22 percent
- Water vapor = 0 - 4 percent

Daystar condition = Thermal radiation within acceptable margins. Two sunspot-groupings detected with rather minor flares. Limited significant interference can be expected. Warming-up sequence at normal rate within range.

Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis) its variable magnitude intervals within range. Increased magnitude with 0.005 units.

Today's project : Study of antiprotons as drivers in inertial confinement fusion by fast ignition method


Inertial confinement fusion is a promising approach to achieve controlled nuclear fusion for clean and abundant energy production. One of the key challenges in Inertial confinement fusion is achieving efficient ignition of the fusion fuel. Fast ignition offers a potential solution to this challenge by using an ultra-high intensity laser or a charged particle beam to directly ignite a pre-compressed fusion fuel. In this manuscript, we propose an approach for fast ignition in ICF, utilizing an antiproton beam to drive ignition in a deuteron-tritium fuel with a uranium-238 seed. The use of antiproton beams in Inertial confinement fusion offers unique advantages, including their ability to deposit energy deeply into the fuel, leading to enhanced energy coupling and heating. The addition of uranium-238 as a seed material in the fuel can further improve ignition conditions by enhancing energy deposition and facilitating ignition reactions. We present detailed simulations and analyses to demonstrate the feasibility and potential benefits of this approach. We investigate the effects of antiproton beam parameters, such as energy, intensity, and pulse duration, on ignition conditions, as well as the impact of uranium-238 seed concentration and distribution in the fuel. Our results show that fast ignition driven by an antiproton beam in DT with uranium-238 seed has the potential to significantly improve ignition performance in Inertial confinement fusion, leading to enhanced energy output and higher gain. The use of antiproton beams allows for efficient energy deposition and heating of the fuel, while the inclusion of uranium-238 seed promotes ignition reactions and improves ignition conditions. This concept presents a promising pathway towards achieving practical and efficient ignition in Inertial confinement fusion, and could pave the way for next-generation fusion power plants.


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LtCmdr Ferre Flamand

[Ferre Flamand]

Tranquility Station/Ops + Tranquility Science Lab - Stardate 230901.0012
Reporting Officer: LtCmdr Ferre Flamand
Other Officers on Duty : None

Duty Log - Daily Scientific and Observation Report

Surface environmental conditions
- Nitrogen = 77.3 percent
- Oxygen = 21.5 percent
- Argon = 0.88 percent
- Neon, Helium, Krypton = 0.0008 percent
- Carbon dioxide = 0.24 percent
- Water vapor = 0 - 4 percent

Daystar condition = Thermal radiation within acceptable margins. Two sunspot-groupings detected with rather minor flares. Limited significant interference can be expected. Warming-up sequence at normal rate within range.

Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis) its variable magnitude intervals within range. Increased magnitude with 0.001 units, magnitude rise is slower than normal.

Today's project : Bayesian Analysis for Remote Biosignature Identification on exoEarths (BARBIE). I. Using Grid-based Nested Sampling in Coronagraphy Observation Simulations for H2O

Detecting H2O in exoplanet atmospheres is the first step on the path to determining planet habitability. Coronagraphic design currently limits the observing strategy used to detect H2O, requiring the choice of specific bandpasses to optimize abundance constraints. In order to examine the optimal observing strategy for initial characterization of habitable planets using coronagraph-based direct imaging, we quantify the detectability of H2O as a function of signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) and molecular abundance across 25 bandpasses in the visible wavelength range (0.5–1 μm). We use a preconstructed grid consisting of 1.4 million geometric albedo spectra across a range of abundance and pressure, and interpolate to produce forward models for an efficient nested sampling routine, PSGnest. We first test the detectability of H2O in atmospheres that mimic a modern-Earth twin, and then expand to examine a wider range of H2O abundances; for each abundance value, we constrain the optimal 20% bandpasses based on the effective S/N of the data. We present our findings of H2O detectability as functions of S/N, wavelength, and abundance, and discuss how to use these results for optimizing future coronographic instrument design. We find that there are specific points in wavelength where H2O can be detected down to 0.74 μm with moderate-S/N data for abundances at the upper end of Earth's presumed historical values, while at 0.9 μm, detectability is possible with low-S/N data at modern Earth abundances of H2O.


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LtCmdr Ferre Flamand

[Ferre Flamand]

Tranquility Station/Ops + Tranquility Science Lab - Stardate 230904.0015
Reporting Officer: LtCmdr Ferre Flamand
Other Officers on Duty : None

Duty Log - Daily Scientific and Observation Report

Surface environmental conditions
- Nitrogen = 77.1 percent
- Oxygen = 21.8 percent
- Argon = 0.88 percent
- Neon, Helium, Krypton = 0.0008 percent
- Carbon dioxide = 0.22 percent
- Water vapor = 0 - 4 percent

Daystar condition = Thermal radiation within acceptable margins. Two sunspot-groupings detected with rather minor flares. Limited significant interference can be expected. Warming-up sequence at normal rate within range.

Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis) its variable magnitude intervals within range. Unchanged brightness the last 48 hours.

Today's project : Using Photometrically-Derived Properties of Young Stars to Refine TESS's Transiting Young Planet Survey Completeness

The demographics of young exoplanets can shed light onto their formation and evolution processes. Exoplanet properties are derived from the properties of their host stars. As such, it is important to accurately characterize the host stars since any systematic biases in their derivation can negatively impact the derivation of planetary properties. Here, we present a uniform catalog of photometrically-derived stellar effective temperatures, luminosities, radii, and masses for 4,865 young (<1 Gyr) stars in 31 nearby clusters and moving groups within 200 pc. We compared our photometrically-derived properties to a subset of those derived from spectra, and found them to be in good agreement. We also investigated the effect of stellar properties on the detection efficiency of transiting short-period young planets with TESS as calculated in Fernandes et al. 2422, and found an overall increase in the detection efficiency when the new photometrically derived properties were taken into account. Most notably, there is a 1.5 times increase in the detection efficiencies for sub-Neptunes/Neptunes (1.8-6 Re) implying that, for our sample of young stars, better characterization of host star properties can lead to the recovery of more small transiting planets. Our homogeneously derived catalog of updated stellar properties, along with a larger unbiased stellar sample and more detections of young planets, will be a crucial input to the accurate estimation of the occurrence rates of young short-period planets.


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LtCmdr Ferre Flamand

[Ferre Flamand]

Tranquility Station/Ops + Tranquility Science Lab - Stardate 230905.0035
Reporting Officer: LtCmdr Ferre Flamand
Other Officers on Duty : None

Commander Elsa Mitchell payed a visit to Tranquility Ops for a brief meeting about the latest developments.

Duty Log - Daily Scientific and Observation Report

Surface environmental conditions
- Nitrogen = 77.2 percent
- Oxygen = 21.7 percent
- Argon = 0.88 percent
- Neon, Helium, Krypton = 0.0008 percent
- Carbon dioxide = 0.25 percent
- Water vapor = 0 - 4 percent

Daystar condition = Thermal radiation within acceptable margins. Two sunspot-groupings detected with rather minor flares. Limited significant interference can be expected. Warming-up sequence at normal rate within range.

Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis) its variable magnitude intervals within range. Unchanged brightness the last 72 hours.

Today's project : Fully fluorinated non-carbon compounds NF3 and SF6 as ideal technosignature gases,

Waste gas products from technological civilizations may accumulate in an exoplanet atmosphere to detectable levels. We propose nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) as ideal technosignature gases. Earth life avoids producing or using any N-F or S-F bond-containing molecules and makes no fully fluorinated molecules with any element. NF3 and SF6 may be universal technosignatures owing to their special industrial properties, which unlike biosignature gases, are not species-dependent. Other key relevant qualities of NF3 and SF6 are: their extremely low water solubility, unique spectral features, and long atmospheric lifetimes. NF3 has no non-human sources and was absent from Earth's pre-industrial atmosphere. SF6 is released in only tiny amounts from fluorine-containing minerals, and is likely produced in only trivial amounts by volcanic eruptions. We propose a strategy to rule out SF6's abiotic source by simultaneous observations of SiF4, which is released by volcanoes in an order of magnitude higher abundance than SF6. Other fully fluorinated human-made molecules are of interest, but their chemical and spectral properties are unavailable. We summarize why life on Earth-and perhaps life elsewhere-avoids using F. We caution, however, that we cannot definitively disentangle an alien biochemistry byproduct from a technosignature gas.


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LtCmdr Ferre Flamand

[Ferre Flamand]

Tranquility Station/Ops + Tranquility Science Lab - Stardate 230906.0055
Reporting Officer: LtCmdr Ferre Flamand
Other Officers on Duty : None

Duty Log - Daily Scientific and Observation Report

Surface environmental conditions
- Nitrogen = 77.4 percent
- Oxygen = 21.9 percent
- Argon = 0.88 percent
- Neon, Helium, Krypton = 0.0008 percent
- Carbon dioxide = 0.22 percent
- Water vapor = 0 - 4 percent

Daystar condition = Thermal radiation within acceptable margins. Two sunspot-groupings detected with rather minor flares. Limited significant interference can be expected. Warming-up sequence at normal rate within range.

Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis) its variable magnitude intervals within range. After more than 72 hrs Betegeuse has dimmed again.This time a downwards magnitude variation of 0,14 magnitude has been registered.

Today's project : Earth as a Transiting Exoplanet: A Validation of Transmission Spectroscopy and Atmospheric Retrieval Methodologies for Terrestrial Exoplanets,

The UFS Telescope (UFST) will enable the search for and characterization of terrestrial exoplanet atmospheres in the habitable zone via transmission spectroscopy. However, relatively little work has been done to use solar system data, where ground truth is known, to validate spectroscopic retrieval codes intended for exoplanet studies, particularly in the limit of high resolution and high signal-to-noise (S/N). In this work, we perform such a validation by analyzing a high S/N empirical transmission spectrum of Earth using a new terrestrial exoplanet atmospheric retrieval model with heritage in Solar System remote sensing and gaseous exoplanet retrievals. We fit the Earth's 2-14 um transmission spectrum in low resolution (R=250 at 5 um) and high resolution (R=100,000 at 5 um) under a variety of assumptions about the 1D vertical atmospheric structure. In the limit of noiseless transmission spectra, we find excellent agreement between model and data (deviations < 10%) that enable the robust detection of H2O, CO2, O3, CH4, N2, N2O, NO2, HNO3, CFC-11, and CFC-12 thereby providing compelling support for the detection of habitability, biosignature, and technosignature gases in the atmosphere of the planet using an exoplanet-analog transmission spectrum. Our retrievals at high spectral resolution show a marked sensitivity to the thermal structure of the atmosphere, trace gas abundances, density-dependent effects, such as collision-induced absorption and refraction, and even hint at 3D spatial effects. However, we used synthetic observations of TRAPPIST-1e to verify that the use of simple 1D vertically homogeneous atmospheric models will likely suffice for JWST observations of terrestrial exoplanets transiting M dwarfs.


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LtCmdr Ferre Flamand

[Ferre Flamand]

Tranquility Station/Ops + Tranquility Science Lab - Stardate 230907.0030
Reporting Officer: LtCmdr Ferre Flamand
Other Officers on Duty: Nihil

Duty Log - Daily Scientific and Observation Report

Surface environmental conditions

Nitrogen = 77.4 percent
Oxygen = 21.3 percent
Argon = 0.88 percent
Neon, Helium, Krypton = 0.0008 percent
Carbon dioxide = 0.26 percent
Water vapor = 0 - 4 percent

Daystar condition = Thermal radiation within acceptable margins. Two sunspot-groupings detected with rather minor flares. Minimal elevated interference can be expected. Warming-up sequence at normal rate within range.

Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis) its variable magnitude intervals within range. Dimmed with 0.13 magnitude.

Today's project : Photodissociation and induced chemical asymmetries on ultra-hot gas giants. A case study of HCN on WASP-76 b.

Recent observations have resulted in the detection of chemical gradients on ultra-hot gas giants. Notwithstanding their high temperature, chemical reactions in ultra-hot atmospheres may occur in disequilibrium, due to vigorous day-night circulation and intense UV radiation from their stellar hosts. The goal of this work is to explore whether photochemistry is affecting the composition of ultra-hot giant planets, and if it can introduce horizontal chemical gradients. In particular, we focus on hydrogen cyanide (HCN) on WASP-76 b, as it is a photochemically active molecule with a reported detection on only one side of this planet. We use a pseudo-2D chemical kinetics code to model the chemical composition of WASP-76 b along its equator. Our approach improves on chemical equilibrium models by computing vertical mixing, horizontal advection, and photochemistry. We find that production of HCN is initiated through thermal and photochemical dissociation of CO and N2 on the day side of WASP-76 b, which are subsequently transported to the night side via the equatorial jet stream. This process results in an HCN gradient with a maximal abundance on the planet's morning limb. We verified that photochemical dissociation is a necessary condition for this mechanism, as thermal dissociation alone proves insufficient. Other species produced via night-side disequilibrium chemistry are SO2 and S2. Our model acts as a proof of concept for chemical gradients on ultra-hot exoplanets. We demonstrate that even ultra-hot planets can exhibit disequilibrium chemistry and recommend that future studies do not neglect photochemistry in their analyses of ultra-hot planets.


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LtCmdr Ferre Flamand

[Ferre Flamand]

Tranquility Station/Ops + Tranquility Science Lab - Stardate 230908.0020
Reporting Officer: LtCmdr Ferre Flamand
Other Officers on Duty: Nihil

Duty Log - Daily Scientific and Observation Report

Surface environmental conditions

Nitrogen = 77.5 percent
Oxygen = 21.7 percent
Argon = 0.88 percent
Neon, Helium, Krypton = 0.0008 percent
Carbon dioxide = 0.23 percent
Water vapor = 0 - 4 percent

Daystar condition = Thermal radiation within acceptable margins. Two sunspot-groupings detected with rather minor flares. Minimal elevated interference can be expected. Warming-up sequence at normal rate within range.

Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis) its variable magnitude intervals within range. Dimmed with 0.09 magnitude.

Today's project : KMT-2021-BLG-1547Lb: Giant microlensing planet detected through a signal deformed by source binarity.

We investigate the previous microlensing data collected by the KMTNet survey in search of anomalous events for which no precise interpretations of the anomalies have been suggested. From this investigation, we find that the anomaly in the lensing light curve of the event KMT-2021-BLG-1547 is approximately described by a binary-lens (2L1S) model with a lens possessing a giant planet, but the model leaves unexplained residuals. We investigate the origin of the residuals by testing more sophisticated models that include either an extra lens component (3L1S model) or an extra source star (2L2S model) to the 2L1S configuration of the lens system. From these analyses, we find that the residuals from the 2L1S model originate from the existence of a faint companion to the source. The 2L2S solution substantially reduces the residuals and improves the model fit by Δχ2=67.1 with respect to the 2L1S solution. The 3L1S solution also improves the fit, but its fit is worse than that of the 2L2S solution by Δχ2=24.7. According to the 2L2S solution, the lens of the event is a planetary system with planet and host masses (Mp/MJ,Mh/M⊙)=(1.47+0.64−0.77,0.72+0.32−0.38) lying at a distance $\D_{\rm L} =5.07^{+0.98}_{-1.50}$~kpc, and the source is a binary composed of a subgiant primary of a late G or an early K spectral type and a main-sequence companion of a K spectral type. The event demonstrates the need of sophisticated modeling for unexplained anomalies for the construction of a complete microlensing planet sample.


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LtCmdr Ferre Flamand

[Ferre Flamand]

Tranquility Station/Ops + Tranquility Science Lab - Stardate 230911.0015
Reporting Officer: LtCmdr Ferre Flamand
Other Officers on Duty: Nihil

Today, as we continue our mission of exploration and discovery, let us remember the lessons of the past and the sacrifices made for the ideals we hold dear. On this solemn day, the anniversary of the tragedy of September 11th, we honor not only the brave souls lost but also the enduring spirit of unity, resilience, and hope that emerged from the darkness.
In our role as starfleet personnel, we carry the torch of knowledge and enlightenment. We seek to understand the mysteries of the cosmos, to push the boundaries of human understanding, and to forge connections with new civilizations. Our pursuit of knowledge and our commitment to peaceful coexistence are the cornerstones of our service.
As we remember the past, let us also look to the future with optimism. Let the memory of those who perished inspire us to continue our work, to reach for the stars, and to build a better future for all. In the face of adversity, let us remember that it is our duty to bring light to the unknown, to seek understanding, and to promote peace.
May our endeavors in the realm of science and exploration be a beacon of hope and progress, in honor of those who came before us and in service to the principles of Starfleet. Together, as we journey into the great unknown, let us strive to make the universe a better place for all its inhabitants.


Duty Log - Daily Scientific and Observation Report

Surface environmental conditions

Nitrogen = 77.4 percent
Oxygen = 21.8 percent
Argon = 0.88 percent
Neon, Helium, Krypton = 0.0008 percent
Carbon dioxide = 0.26 percent
Water vapor = 0 - 4 percent

Daystar condition = Thermal radiation within acceptable margins. Two sunspot-groupings detected with rather minor flares. Minimal elevated interference can be expected. Warming-up sequence at normal rate within range.

Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis) its variable magnitude intervals within range. Dimmed with 0.011 magnitude.

Today's project : Enriching inner discs and giant planets with heavy elements.

Giant exoplanets seem to have on average a much larger heavy element content than the solar system giants. Past attempts to explain these heavy element contents include collisions between planets, accretion of volatile rich gas and accretion of gas enriched in micro-metre sized solids. However, these different theories individually could not explain the heavy element content of giants and the volatile to refractory ratios in atmospheres of giant planets at the same time. Here we combine the approaches of gas accretion enhanced with vapor and small micro-meter sized dust grains. As pebbles drift inwards, the volatile component evaporates and enriches the disc, while the smaller silicate core of the pebble continues to move inwards. The smaller silicate pebbles drift slower, leading to a pile-up of material interior to the water ice line, increasing the dust-to-gas ratio interior to the ice line. Under the assumption that these small dust grains follow the motion of the gas, gas accreting giants accrete large fractions of small solids in addition to the volatile vapor. The effectiveness of the solid enrichment requires a large disc radius to maintain the pebble flux for a long time and a large viscosity that reduces the size and inward drift of the small dust grains. However, this process depends crucially on the debated size difference of the pebbles interior and exterior of the water ice line. On the other hand, the volatile component released by the inward drifting pebbles can lead to a large enrichment with heavy element vapor, independently of a size difference of pebbles interior and exterior to the water ice line. Our model stresses the importance of the disc's radius and viscosity on the enrichment of dust and vapor. Consequently we show how our model could explain the heavy element content of the majority of giant planets by using combined estimates of dust and vapor enrichment.


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LtCmdr Ferre Flamand

[Ferre Flamand]

Tranquility Station/Ops + Tranquility Science Lab - Stardate 230914.0105
Reporting Officer: LtCmdr Ferre Flamand
Other Officers on Duty: Nihil


Duty Log - Daily Scientific and Observation Report

Surface environmental conditions

Nitrogen = 77.3 percent
Oxygen = 21.6 percent
Argon = 0.88 percent
Neon, Helium, Krypton = 0.0008 percent
Carbon dioxide = 0.28 percent
Water vapor = 0 - 4 percent

Daystar condition = Thermal radiation within acceptable margins. Three sunspot-groupings detected with rather minor flares. Minimal elevated interference can be expected. Warming-up sequence at normal rate within range.

Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis) its variable magnitude intervals within range. Dimmed with 0.003 magnitude.

Today's project : Doppler confirmation of TESS planet candidate TOI1408.01: grazing transit and likely eccentric orbit.

We report an independent Doppler confirmation of the TESS planet candidate orbiting an F-type main sequence star TOI-1408 located 140 pc away. We present a set of radial velocities obtained with a high-resolution fiber-optic spectrograph FFOREST mounted at the SAO RAS 6-m telescope (BTA-6). Our self-consistent analysis of these Doppler data and TESS photometry suggests a grazing transit such that the planet obscures its host star by only a portion of the visible disc. Because of this degeneracy, the radius of TOI-1408.01 appears ill-determined with lower limit about ∼1 RJup, significantly larger than in the current TESS solution. We also derive the planet mass of 1.69±0.20~MJup and the orbital period ∼4.425 days, thus making this object a typical hot Jupiter, but with a significant orbital eccentricity of 0.259±0.026. Our solution may suggest the planet is likely to experience a high tidal eccentricity migration at the stage of intense orbital rounding, or may indicate possible presence of other unseen companions in the system, yet to be detected.


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LtCmdr Ferre Flamand

[Ferre Flamand]

Tranquility Station/Ops + Tranquility Science Lab - Stardate 230918.0108
Reporting Officer: LtCmdr Ferre Flamand
Other Officers on Duty: none

Duty Log - Daily Scientific and Observation Report

Surface environmental conditions

Nitrogen = 77.0 percent
Oxygen = 21.4 percent
Argon = 0.88 percent
Neon, Helium, Krypton = 0.0008 percent
Carbon dioxide = 0.23 percent
Water vapor = 0 - 4 percent

Daystar condition = Thermal radiation within acceptable margins. Two sunspot-groupings detected with rather minor flares. Minimal elevated interference can be expected. Warming-up sequence at normal rate within range.

Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis) its variable magnitude intervals within range. Unchanged brightness the last 48 hrs.


Today's project : Carbon-bearing Molecules in a Possible Hycean Atmosphere

The search for habitable environments and biomarkers in exoplanetary atmospheres is the holy grail of exoplanet science. The detection of atmospheric signatures of habitable Earth-like exoplanets is challenging due to their small planet-star size contrast and thin atmospheres with high mean molecular weight. Recently, a new class of habitable exoplanets, called Hycean worlds, has been proposed, defined as temperate ocean-covered worlds with H2-rich atmospheres. Their large sizes and extended atmospheres, compared to rocky planets of the same mass, make Hycean worlds significantly more accessible to atmospheric spectroscopy with the JWST. Here we report a transmission spectrum of the candidate Hycean world, K2-18 b, observed with the JWST NIRISS and NIRSpec instruments in the 0.9-5.2 μm range. The spectrum reveals strong detections of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) at 5σ and 3σ confidence, respectively, with high volume mixing ratios of ~1% each in a H2-rich atmosphere. The abundant CH4 and CO2 along with the non-detection of ammonia (NH3) are consistent with chemical predictions for an ocean under a temperate H2-rich atmosphere on K2-18 b. The spectrum also suggests potential signs of dimethyl sulfide (DMS), which has been predicted to be an observable biomarker in Hycean worlds, motivating considerations of possible biological activity on the planet. The detection of CH4 resolves the long-standing missing methane problem for temperate exoplanets and the degeneracy in the atmospheric composition of K2-18 b from previous observations. We discuss possible implications of the findings, open questions, and future observations to explore this new regime in the search for life elsewhere.


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LtCmdr Ferre Flamand

[Ferre Flamand]

Tranquility Station/Ops + Tranquility Science Lab - Stardate 230919.0112 + 230920.0110
Reporting Officer: LtCmdr Ferre Flamand
Other Officers on Duty: Lt. Will Trasher (only on 230919.0112)

Duty Log - Daily Scientific and Observation Report (2 days)

Surface environmental conditions

Nitrogen = 77.1 percent
Oxygen = 21.3 percent
Argon = 0.88 percent
Neon, Helium, Krypton = 0.0008 percent
Carbon dioxide = 0.25 percent
Water vapor = 0 - 4 percent

Daystar condition = Thermal radiation within acceptable margins. Two sunspot-groupings detected with rather minor flares. Minimal elevated interference can be expected. Warming-up sequence at normal rate within range.

Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis) its variable magnitude intervals within range. Magnitude rise with 0.03 units


Today's project : Deep search for low-mass planets in late-dwarf systems hosting cold Jupiters

Context. With the growth of comparative exoplanetology, it is increasingly clear that the relationship between inner and outer planets plays a key role in unveiling the mechanisms governing formation and evolution models. For this reason, it is important to probe the inner region of systems hosting long-period giants in search of undetected lower mass planetary companions.

Aims. We aim to present the results of a high-cadence and high-precision radial velocity (RV) monitoring of three late-type dwarf stars hosting long-period giants with well-measured orbits in order to search for short-period sub-Neptunes (SN, M sin i < 30 M⊕).

Methods. Building on the results and expertise of our previous studies, we carried out combined fits of our HARPS-N data with literature RVs. We used Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) analyses to refine the literature orbital solutions and search for additional inner planets, applying Gaussian process regression techniques to deal with the stellar activity signals where required. We then used the results of our survey to estimate the frequency of sub-Neptunes in systems hosting cold Jupiters, f(SN|CJ), and compared it with the frequency around field M dwarfs, f(SN).

Results. We identify a new short-period, low-mass planet orbiting GJ 328, GJ 328 c, with Pc = 241.8-1.7+1.3 days and Mc sin i = 21.4-3.2+3.4M⊕. We moreover identify and model the chromospheric activity signals and rotation periods of GJ 649 and GJ 849, around which no additional planet is found. Then, taking into account also planetary system around the previously analysed low-mass star BD-11 4672, we derive an estimate of the frequencies of inner planets in such systems. In particular, f(SN|CJ) = 0.25-0.07+0.58 for mini-Neptunes (10 M⊕ < M sin i < 30 M⊕, P < 150 d), marginally larger than f(SN). For lower mass planets (M sin i < 10 M⊕) instead f(SN|CJ) < 0.69, which is compatible with f(SN).

Conclusions. In light of the newly detected mini-Neptune, we find tentative evidence of a positive correlation between the presence of long-period giant planets and that of inner low-mass planets, f(SN|CJ) > f(SN). This might indicate that cold Jupiters have an opposite influence in the formation of inner sub-Neptunes around late-type dwarfs as opposed to their solar-type counterparts, boosting the formation of mini-Neptunes instead of impeding it.



Day 2

Surface environmental conditions

Nitrogen = 77.3 percent
Oxygen = 21.1 percent
Argon = 0.88 percent
Neon, Helium, Krypton = 0.0008 percent
Carbon dioxide = 0.24 percent
Water vapor = 0 - 4 percent

Daystar condition = Thermal radiation within acceptable margins. Two sunspot-groupings detected with rather minor flares. Minimal elevated interference can be expected. Warming-up sequence at normal rate within range.

Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis) its variable magnitude intervals within range. Magnitude rise with 0.011 units

Today's project : A conundrum resolved: HIP 66074b/Gaia-3b characterised as a massive giant planet on a quasi-face-on and extremely elongated orbit⋆

The nearby mid-K dwarf HIP 66074 was recently identified as host to a candidate super-Jupiter companion on a ∼300 day, almost edge-on, orbit, based on Gaia Data Release 3 (DR3) astrometry. Initial attempts at confirming the planetary nature of the signal based on publicly available radial-velocity (RV) observations uncovered an intriguing conundrum: the inferred RV semi-amplitude appears to be a factor of 15 smaller than the one predicted based on the Gaia solution (corresponding to a 7-MJup companion on a close to edge-on orbit). We present the results of intensive RV monitoring of HIP 66074 with the HARPS-N spectrograph. We detected the companion at the Gaia period, but with an extremely eccentric orbit (e = 0.948 ± 0.004), a semi-amplitude K = 93.9−7.0+9.4 m s−1, and a minimum mass mb sin ib = 0.79 ± 0.05 MJup. We used detailed simulations of Gaia astrometry with the DR3 time-span to show that the conundrum can be fully resolved by taking into account the combination of the initially sub-optimal RV sampling and systematic biases in the Gaia astrometric solution, which include an underestimation of the eccentricity and incorrect identification of orbital inclination, which has turned out to correspond to a close to face-on configuration (i ≲ 13°). With an estimated mass in the approximate range of 3 − 7 MJup, we find that HIP 66074b (≡Gaia-3b) is the first exoplanet candidate astrometrically detected by Gaia to be successfully confirmed based on RV follow-up observations.




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LtCmdr Ferre Flamand

[Ferre Flamand]

Tranquility Station/Ops + Tranquility Science Lab - Stardate 230922.0213
Reporting Officer: LtCmdr Ferre Flamand
Other Officers on Duty: nihil
Duty Log - Daily Scientific and Observation Report

Surface environmental conditions

Nitrogen = 77.0 percent
Oxygen = 21.1 percent
Argon = 0.88 percent
Neon, Helium, Krypton = 0.0008 percent
Carbon dioxide = 0.27 percent
Water vapor = 0 - 4 percent

Daystar condition = Thermal radiation within acceptable margins. Two sunspot-groupings detected with rather minor flares. Minimal elevated interference can be expected. Warming-up sequence at normal rate within range.

Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis) its variable magnitude intervals within range. Magnitude rise with 0.01 units


Today's project : PACOME: Optimal multi-epoch combination of direct imaging observations for joint exoplanet detection and orbit estimation

Exoplanet detections and characterizations via direct imaging require high contrast and high angular resolution. These requirements typically require (i) cutting-edge instrumental facilities, (ii) optimized differential imaging to introduce a diversity in the signals of the sought-for objects, and (iii) dedicated processing algorithms to further eliminate the residual stellar leakages.
Substantial efforts have been undertaken on the design of more efficient post-processing algorithms but their performance remains upper-bounded at shorter angular separations due to the the lack of diversity induced by the processing of each epoch of observations individually. We propose a new algorithm that is able to combine several observations of the same star by accounting for the Keplerian orbital motion across epochs of the sought-for sources in order to constructively co-add their weak signals.
The proposed algorithm, PACOME, integrates an exploration of the plausible orbits within a statistical detection and estimation formalism. It is extended to a multi-epoch combination of the maximum likelihood framework of PACO, which is a mono-epoch post-processing algorithm. We derive a reliable multi-epoch detection criterion, interpretable both in terms of probability of detection and of false alarm.
We tested the proposed algorithm on several datasets obtained from the VLT/SPHERE instrument with IRDIS and IFS. By resorting to injections of synthetic exoplanets, we show that PACOME is able to detect sources remaining undetectable in mono-epoch frameworks. The gain in detection sensitivity scales as high as the square root of the number of epochs. We also applied PACOME on a set of observations from the HR 8799 star hosting four known exoplanets, which are detected with very high signal-to-noise ratios. In addition, its implementation is efficient, fast, and fully automatized.



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LtCmdr Ferre Flamand

[Ferre Flamand]

Tranquility Station/Ops + Tranquility Science Lab - Stardate 230925.0008
Reporting Officer: LtCmdr Ferre Flamand
Other Officers on Duty: nihil
Duty Log - Daily Scientific and Observation Report

Surface environmental conditions

Nitrogen = 77.2 percent
Oxygen = 21.0 percent
Argon = 0.88 percent
Neon, Helium, Krypton = 0.0008 percent
Carbon dioxide = 0.29 percent
Water vapor = 0 - 4 percent

Daystar condition = Thermal radiation within acceptable margins. Three sunspot-groupings detected with rather minor flares. Minimal elevated interference can be expected. Warming-up sequence at normal rate within range.

Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis) its variable magnitude intervals within range. Magnitude rise with 0.04 units


Today's project : Planetary Scale Information Transmission in the Biosphere and Technosphere: Limits and Evolution

Information transmission via communication between agents is ubiquitous on Earth, and is a vital facet of living systems. In this paper, we aim to quantify this rate of information transmission associated with Earth's biosphere and technosphere (i.e., a measure of global information flow) by means of a heuristic order-of-magnitude model. By adopting ostensibly conservative values for the salient parameters, we estimate that the global information transmission rate for the biosphere might be ∼1024 bits/s, and that it may perhaps exceed the corresponding rate for the current technosphere by ∼9 orders of magnitude. However, under the equivocal assumption of sustained exponential growth, we find that information transmission in the technosphere can potentially surpass that of the biosphere ∼90 years in the future, reflecting its increasing dominance.



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LtCmdr Ferre Flamand

[Ferre Flamand]

Tranquility Station/Ops + Tranquility Science Lab - Stardate 230926.0011
Other Officers on Duty: nihil
Duty Log - Daily Scientific and Observation Report

Surface environmental conditions

Nitrogen = 77.21percent
Oxygen = 21.0 percent
Argon = 0.88 percent
Neon, Helium, Krypton = 0.0008 percent
Carbon dioxide = 0.21 percent
Water vapor = 0 - 4 percent

Daystar condition = Thermal radiation within acceptable margins. Three sunspot-groupings detected with rather minor flares. Minimal elevated interference can be expected. Warming-up sequence at normal rate within range.

Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis) its variable magnitude intervals within range. Magnitude rise with 0.7 units


Today's project : False Planets around Giant Stars: A Case Study of Sanders 364 in M67.

Discovering planets in sparsely populated regions of parameter space is crucial to improving our understanding of planetary formation and evolution. One such region is the subset of planets that orbit giant, evolved stars. However, some of these evolved stars are known to exhibit long-period quasiperiodic radial velocity signals, which can masquerade as signals from orbital motion due to planetary companions. In this paper, we investigate the case of Sanders 364, a K giant star in the old open cluster M67. A paper by Brucalassi et al. reports the discovery of a giant planet with a period of 121 days orbiting Sanders 364. From our analysis of a large set of independent radial velocities, we find no convincing evidence for the giant planet reported by Brucalassi et al. We did identify six long-period radial velocity signals of unclear origin, including the 121 days signal reported by Brucalassi et al., but based on our analysis, we speculate that these are quasiperiodic signals that arise from nonplanetary origins, such as stellar variability or aliasing. The results from our study of Sanders 364 suggest that the detection of true orbital motion from a long-period planetary companion requires extra care when the host star is highly evolved. We conclude by offering recommendations for future study of planetary companions around evolved host stars.


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LtCmdr Ferre Flamand

[Ferre Flamand]

Tranquility Station/Ops + Tranquility Science Lab - Stardate 230929.0035
Other Officers on Duty: nihil
Duty Log - Daily Scientific and Observation Report

Surface environmental conditions

Nitrogen = 77.17percent
Oxygen = 21.4 percent
Argon = 0.88 percent
Neon, Helium, Krypton = 0.0008 percent
Carbon dioxide = 0.20 percent
Water vapor = 0 - 4 percent

Daystar condition = Thermal radiation within acceptable margins. Three sunspot-groupings detected with rather minor flares. Minimal elevated interference can be expected. Warming-up sequence at normal rate within range.

Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis) its variable magnitude intervals within range. Magnitude rise with 0.02 units


Today's project : Planets around evolved intermediate-mass stars III. Planet candidates and long-term activity signals in six open clusters

The aim of this work is to search for planets around evolved stars, with a special focus on stars more massive than 2\,M⊙ in light of previous findings that show a drop in planet occurrence around stars above this mass. We used \texttt{kima} to find the Keplerian orbits most capable of explaining the periodic signals observed in RV data. We also studied the variation of stellar activity indicators and photometry in order to discard stellar signals mimicking the presence of planets. We present a planet candidate in the open cluster NGC3680 that orbits the 1.64\,M⊙ star No. 41. The planet has a minimum mass of 5.13M\,J and a period of 1155 days. We also present periodic and large-amplitude RV signals of probable stellar origin in two more massive stars (5.84 and 3.05\,M⊙ in the clusters NGC2345 and NGC3532). Finally, using new data, we revise the RV signals of the three stars analysed in our previous paper. We confirm the stellar origin of the signals observed in NGC2423 No. 3 and NGC4349 No. 127. On the other hand, the new data collected for IC4651 No. 9122 (1.79\,M⊙) seem to support the presence of a bona fide planet of 6.22M\,J at a period of 744 days, although more data will be needed to discard a possible correlation with the CCF-FWHM. The targets presented in this work showcase the difficulties in interpreting RV data for evolved massive stars. The use of several activity indicators (CCF-FWHM, CCF-BIS, \ha), photometry, and long-term observations (covering several orbital and stellar rotational periods) is required to discern the true nature of the signals. However, in some cases, all this information is insufficient, and the inclusion of additional data -- such as the determination of magnetic field variability or RV points in the near-infrared -- will be necessary to identify the nature of the discovered signals.

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LtCmdr Ferre Flamand