FS
Frans Snik
11 records found
1
Spectropolarimetry of life
Airborne measurements from a hot air balloon
Does life exist outside our Solar System A first step towards searching for life outside our Solar System is detecting life on Earth by using remote sensing applications. One powerful and unambiguous biosignature is the circular polarization resulting from the homochirality of bi
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In this White Paper, which was submitted in response to the European Space Agency (ESA) Voyage 2050 Call, we recommend the ESA plays a proactive role in developing a global collaborative effort to construct a large high-contrast imaging space telescope, e.g. as currently under st
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Spatial polarization modulators
Distinguishing diffraction effects from spatial polarization modulation
Are we alone? In our quest to find life beyond Earth, we use our own planet to develop and verify new methods and techniques to remotely detect life. Our Life Signature Detection polarimeter (LSDpol), a snapshot full-Stokes spectropolarimeter to be deployed in the field and in sp
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Biosignatures of the Earth
I. Airborne spectropolarimetric detection of photosynthetic life
Context. Homochirality is a generic and unique property of life on Earth and is considered a universal and agnostic biosignature. Homochirality induces fractional circular polarization in the incident light that it reflects. Because this circularly polarized light can be sensed r
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Pale polarized dots
Spectropolarimetry of the Earth as an exoplanet with LOUPE
We present LOUPE, the Lunar Observatory for Unresolved Polarimetry of the Earth, a compact snapshot spectropolarimeter designed to observe the Earth from the Moon as if it were an exoplanet. Viewing the Earth as it would be seen by a faraway observer will offer novel insight into
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Polarimetric imaging mode of VLT/SPHERE/IRDIS
II. Characterization and correction of instrumental polarization effects
Context. Circumstellar disks and self-luminous giant exoplanets or companion brown dwarfs can be characterized through direct-imaging polarimetry at near-infrared wavelengths. SPHERE/IRDIS at the Very Large Telescope has the capabilities to perform such measurements, but uncalibr
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Polarimetric imaging mode of VLT/SPHERE/IRDIS
I. Description, data reduction, and observing strategy
Context. Polarimetric imaging is one of the most effective techniques for high-contrast imaging and for the characterization of protoplanetary disks, and it has the potential of becoming instrumental in the characterization of exoplanets. The Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Ex
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Many biologically produced chiral molecules such as amino acids and sugars show a preference for left or right handedness (homochirality). Light reflected by biological materials such as algae and leaves therefore exhibits a small amount of circular polarization that strongly dep
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We provide a proof of the technical feasibility of LOUPE, the first integral-field snapshot spectropolarimeter, designed to monitor the reflected flux and polarization spectrum of Earth. These are to be used as benchmark data for the retrieval of biomarkers and atmospheric and su
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