SPACE/COSMOS
With new analysis, Apollo samples brought to Earth in 1972 reveal exotic sulfur hidden in Moon’s mantle
Brown University
image:
James Dottin prepares a secondary ion mass spectrometer to analyze lunar samples from Apollo 17
view moreCredit: Courtesy of James Dottin
When astronauts returned from NASA’s final Apollo Moon mission in 1972, some of the samples they collected were sealed and carefully stored away in the hope that future researchers using advanced equipment might analyze them and make new discoveries.
Now, a research team led by a Brown University professor has done just that. In a study published in JGR: Planets, researchers report a sulfuric surprise in rock samples taken from the Moon’s Taurus Littrow region during Apollo 17. The analysis shows that volcanic material in the sample contains sulfur compounds that are highly depleted of sulfur-33 (or 33S), one of four radioactively stable sulfur isotopes. The depleted 33S samples contrast sharply with sulfur isotope ratios found on Earth, the researchers say.
Certain elements carry distinctive “fingerprints” in the form of isotope ratios — subtle variations in the weight of their atoms. If two rocks share the same isotopic fingerprint, it’s a strong clue they came from the same source. In the case of the Moon and Earth, researchers have shown broad similarities in the two bodies’ oxygen isotopes. It has long been assumed that sulfur isotopes would tell a similar story, according to James Dottin, an assistant professor of Earth, environmental and planetary sciences at Brown who led the new study.
“Before this, it was thought that the lunar mantle had the same sulfur isotope composition as Earth,” Dottin said. “That’s what I expected to see when analyzing these samples, but instead we saw values that are very different from anything we find on Earth.”
The samples Dottin analyzed were taken from a double drive tube — a hollow metal cylinder driven some 60 centimeters into the lunar soil by Apollo 17 astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt. Once returned to Earth, NASA sealed the tube in a helium chamber to keep the sample in pristine condition for future research under a program called Apollo Next Generation Sample Analysis or ANGSA.
In the last few years, NASA has begun making the ANGSA samples available to academic researchers through a competitive application process. Supported by LunaSCOPE, Brown’s lunar science research consortium, Dottin proposed to analyze sulfur isotopes using secondary ion mass spectrometry, a highly precise method of isotope analysis that didn’t exist in 1972 when the samples were first returned to Earth.
For his work, Dottin sought specific samples from the drive tube that appeared to be mantle-derived volcanic rock: “I was targeting sulfur that had a texture that would suggest it was erupted with the rock and not added through a different process,” he said.
He was a bit stunned to see isotope ratios that varied so dramatically from those on Earth.
“My first thought was, ‘Holy shmolies, that can’t be right,’” Dottin said. “So we went back to make sure we had done everything properly and we had. These are just very surprising results.”
There are two potential explanations for the anomalous sulfur, he says.
They could be a remnant of chemical processes that took place on the Moon early in its history. Depleted S33 ratios are found when sulfur interacts with ultraviolet light in an optically thin atmosphere. The Moon is thought to have had a short-lived atmosphere early in its history, which could have supported that kind of photochemistry. If that is indeed how the samples were formed, it has some interesting implications for the evolution of the Moon.
“That would be evidence of ancient exchange of materials from the lunar surface to the mantle,” Dottin said. “On Earth, we have plate tectonics that does that, but the Moon doesn’t have plate tectonics. So this idea of some kind of exchange mechanism on the early Moon is exciting.”
The other possibility is that anomalous sulfur is left over from the formation of the Moon itself. The leading explanation for the Moon’s formation is that a Mars-sized object, called Theia, collided with Earth early in its history. Debris from that collision eventually coalesced to form the Moon. It’s possible that Theia’s sulfur signature was far different from that of Earth, and that those differences have been recorded in the lunar mantle.
It's not clear from this research which of those possible explanations is the right one. Dottin is hopeful that more study of sulfur isotopes from Mars and other bodies may one day help scientists find the answer. Ultimately, he says, understanding the distribution of isotope signatures will help scientists better understand how the solar system formed.
James Dottin (right) and co-author Brian Monteleone analyze data from the secondary ion mass spectrometry analysis of Apollo 17 samples.
Credit
Courtesy James Dottin
Journal
Journal of Geophysical Research Planets
Article Title
Endogenous, yet Exotic, Sulfur in the Lunar Mantle
We need a solar sail probe to detect space tornadoes earlier, more accurately, U-M researchers say
A spacecraft that sails on light could provide new vantage point on solar eruptions that can disrupt modern electrical and navigation systems
Spirals of solar wind can spin off larger solar eruptions and disrupt Earth's magnetic field, yet they are too difficult to detect with our current single-location warning system, according to a new study from the University of Michigan.
But a constellation of spacecraft, including one that sails on sunlight, could help find the tornado-like features in time to protect equipment on Earth and in orbit.
The study results come from computer simulations of a massive cloud of plasma erupting from the sun and moving through the solar system. Because the simulation covers features that span distances three times Earth's diameter down to thousands of miles, the researchers could determine how smaller, tornado-like spirals of plasma and magnetic field—called flux ropes—become concerning features in their own right.
"Our simulation shows that the magnetic field in these vortices can be strong enough to trigger a geomagnetic storm and cause some real trouble," said Chip Manchester, research professor of climate and space sciences and engineering and the corresponding author of the study published in the Astrophysical Journal.
In May 2024, a geomagnetic storm tripped high-voltage power lines, disrupted satellite orbits,and forced some airplanes to change course. It also scrambled navigation systems on tractors in the Midwest, which NASA says cost each affected farm $17,000 in damages, on average. For both scientific curiosity and better warning systems ahead of these events, NASA and the National Science Foundation funded this U-M study.
Geomagnetic storms are triggered by magnetic fields in the solar wind, a bubble of plasma that flows outward from the sun and envelops the solar system. Like wind on Earth, the solar wind blows in varying patterns that comprise space weather. Eruptions at the sun create the most extreme space weather—dense, fast-moving clouds of plasma called coronal mass ejections that span 34 million miles, on average.
But scientists have also noticed relatively small flux ropes in the solar wind, between 3,000 and 6 million miles wide. These features are too small for typical simulations of coronal mass ejections, which could only produce features larger than 7 million miles wide, but they are also too large for simulations often used to study magnetic fields and plasma particles in the solar wind. The new simulation allows researchers to see these features of intermediate size along with large coronal mass ejections.
The U-M simulation suggested that the tornado-like flux ropes form out of the coronal mass ejections as they drive through slower solar wind, flinging aside spinning masses of plasma like a snowplow tossing snow. Some tornadoes dissipate, but more persistent vortices can form during collisions with neighboring streams of fast and slow solar wind. Telescopes pointing at the sun look for eruptions to warn of bad space weather, but for flux ropes, the researchers say that's not enough.
"If there are hazards forming out in space between the sun and Earth, we can't just look at the sun," said study co-author Mojtaba Akhavan-Tafti, associate research scientist of climate and space sciences and engineering. "This is a matter of national security. We need to proactively find structures like these Earth-bound flux ropes and predict what they will look like at Earth to make reliable space weather warnings for electric grid planners, airline dispatchers and farmers."
The solar wind can only trigger geomagnetic storms when its magnetic field has a strong southward orientation. Spacecraft stationed between Earth and the sun already help scientists make space weather warnings by measuring the speed of the solar wind, as well as the strength and direction of its magnetic field. But a solar eruption aimed away from Earth, or with northward-pointing magnetic fields, might still toss vortices with southward-pointing magnetic fields toward Earth. Those tornadoes would go unnoticed if they miss the probes stationed at L1.
"Imagine if you could only monitor a hurricane remotely with the measurements from one wind gauge," Manchester said. "You'd see a change in the measurements, but you wouldn't see the storm's entire structure. That's the current situation with single-spacecraft systems. We need viewpoints from multiple space weather stations."
The researchers hope to provide that multiprobe view of solar tornadoes with a constellation of spacecraft called the Space Weather Investigation Frontier, or SWIFT, which was developed in a NASA mission concept study led by Akhavan-Tafti.
In the current proposal, four probes would be stationed in a triangular-pyramid formation, around 200,000 miles apart. Three identical probes would occupy each corner of the pyramid's base, located in a plane around L1. A final "hub spacecraft," located beyond L1, would serve as the pyramid's apex, pointing toward the sun. This configuration would allow SWIFT to see how the solar wind changes on its way to Earth, and its hub closer to the sun could make space weather warnings 40% faster.
The apex's location would normally require an impractical amount of fuel to fight the sun's gravity, but NASA engineers, through their Solar Cruiser mission, designed an aluminum sail that could enable the probe to park beyond L1. The sail would cover about a third of a football field, allowing it to catch enough photons to maintain the spacecraft's position without burning fuel.
Study: High-resolution simulation of CME-CIR interactions: small- to mesoscale solar wind structure formation observable by the SWIFT constellation (DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/adf855, available upon request or when the embargo lifts)
Journal
The Astrophysical Journal
Gaia solves mystery of tumbling asteroids and finds a new way to probe their interiors
image:
An illustration of two colliding asteroids.
view moreCredit: Europlanet/T Roger.
Whether an asteroid is spinning neatly on its axis or tumbling chaotically, and how fast it is doing so, has been shown to be dependent on how frequently it has experienced collisions. The findings, presented at the EPSC-DPS2025 Joint Meeting in Helsinki, are based on data from the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission and provide a means of determining an asteroid’s physical properties – information that is vital for successfully deflecting asteroids on a collision course with Earth.
“By leveraging Gaia's unique dataset, advanced modelling and A.I. tools, we've revealed the hidden physics shaping asteroid rotation, and opened a new window into the interiors of these ancient worlds,” said Dr Wen-Han Zhou of the University of Tokyo, who presented the results at EPSC-DPS2025.
During its survey of the entire sky, the Gaia mission produced a huge dataset of asteroid rotations based on their light curves, which describe how the light reflected by an asteroid changes over time as it rotates. When the asteroid data is plotted on a graph of the rotation period versus diameter, something startling stands out – there’s a gap, or dividing line that appears to split two distinct populations.
Now a study led by Zhou, much of which was conducted while he was at the Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur in France, has revealed the reason for this gap – and in doing so solved some long-standing mysteries about asteroid rotation.
“We built a new model of asteroid-spin evolution that considers the tug of war between two key processes, namely collisions in the Asteroid Belt that can jolt asteroids into a tumbling state, and internal friction, which gradually smooths their spin back to a stable rotation,” said Zhou. “When these two effects balance, they create a natural dividing line in the asteroid population.”
By applying machine learning to Gaia’s asteroid catalogue and then comparing the results to their model’s prediction, Zhou’s team found that the location of the gap matched what their model predicted almost perfectly.
Below the gap are slowly tumbling asteroids with rotational periods of less than 30 hours, while above the gap are the faster ‘pure’ spinners.
For decades, astronomers have been puzzled about why there are so many asteroids tumbling chaotically rather than spinning around a single rotational axis, and why smaller asteroids are more likely to be tumbling slowly.
Zhou’s study shows that collisions and the effects of sunlight are key. Tumbling motion usually starts when an asteroid spins slowly. Its slow rotation means that it is more easily disturbed by collisions, which can knock the asteroid into a chaotic tumble.
Ordinarily, the subtle force of sunlight would be expected to cause the asteroid to stop tumbling and spin up. The surface of an asteroid absorbs heat from the Sun and re-emits it in different directions. The emitted photons give the asteroid a tiny push, one that builds up over time, and depending on the asteroid can either speed up its rotation or slow it down. For an asteroid that is spinning smoothly on its axis, the directions in which sunlight is absorbed and re-emitted remains constant, allowing the strength of the push from sunlight to build up.
However, for tumbling asteroids the effect of sunlight is much weaker. Because they are rotating chaotically, different parts of the surface are absorbing and re-emitting heat at any given time. Rather than giving the asteroid a consistent push, the effect of absorbing and re-emitting sunlight is smoothed out, so there’s no preferred push in any direction. As a result, slowly tumbling asteroids change their spin very slowly, and become stuck in the slow-rotation zone below the gap in the observational data from Gaia.
There’s a practical usefulness to this discovery. By understanding how the rigidity of asteroids’ interior structure relates to their rotation, it’s possible to use that knowledge to infer the internal properties of the asteroids. From the Gaia data, the findings support the picture of asteroids as loosely held together rubble piles, with lots of holes and cavities blanketed in thick, dusty regolith.
Understanding the properties of asteroids also has repercussions for how to deflect a hazardous asteroid on a collision course, because a rubble pile asteroid would react to a kinetic impact like NASA’s DART differently than a solid, rigid body. Thanks to these findings, astronomers could soon have an extensive catalogue of the internal structures of potentially hazardous asteroids, which could hold the key of how to deflect them.
"With forthcoming surveys like the Vera C. Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), we'll be able to apply this method to millions more asteroids, refining our understanding of their evolution and make-up,” said Zhou.
Collisions between asteroids are not uncommon: this is the aftermath of a head-on collision between asteroids as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2010.
Credit
NASA/ESA/D. Jewitt (UCLA).
How black holes produce powerful relativistic jets
Theoretical physicists at Goethe University Frankfurt describe the origin of powerful jets using complex simulations
image:
A chain of plasmoids is created on the equatorial plane along the current sheet, where the particle density (left part) is higher. Here, magnetic reconnection takes place, accelerating particles to very high energies (right). Particles also reach relativistic speeds along the spin axis and eventually form the jet powered by the Blandford–Znajek mechanism. Gray: Magnetic field lines.
view moreCredit: Meringolo, Camilloni, Rezzolla (2025)
FRANKFURT. For nearly two centuries, it was unclear that the bright spot in the constellation Virgo, which Charles Messier had described in 1781 as “87: Nebula without stars,” was in fact a very large galaxy. As a result, there was initially no explanation for the strange jet discovered in 1918 emerging from the center of this “nebula.”
At the heart of the giant galaxy M87 lies the black hole M87*, which contains a staggering six and a half billion solar masses and spins rapidly on its axis. Using the energy from this rotation, M87* powers a particle jet expelled at nearly the speed of light, stretching across an immense 5,000 light-years. Such jets are also generated by other rotating black holes. They contribute to disperse energy and matter throughout the universe and can influence the evolution of entire galaxies.
A team of astrophysicists at Goethe University Frankfurt, led by Prof. Luciano Rezzolla, has developed a numerical code, named the Frankfurt particle-in-cell code for black hole spacetimes (FPIC), which describes with high precision the processes that convert rotational energy into a particle jet. The result: In addition to the Blandford–Znajek mechanism – which has so far been considered responsible for the extraction of rotational energy from the black hole via strong magnetic fields – the scientists have revealed that another process is involved in the energy extraction, namely, magnetic reconnection. In this process, magnetic field lines break and reassemble, leading to magnetic energy being converted into heat, radiation, and eruptions of plasma.
The FPIC code simulated the evolution of a vast number of charged particles and extreme electromagnetic fields under the influence of the black hole’s strong gravity. Dr. Claudio Meringolo, the main developer of the code, explains: “Simulating such processes is crucial for understanding the complex dynamics of relativistic plasmas in curved spacetimes near compact objects, which are governed by the interplay of extreme gravitational and magnetic fields.”
The investigations required highly demanding supercomputer simulations that consumed millions of CPU hours on Frankfurt’s “Goethe” supercomputer and Stuttgart’s “Hawk.” This large computing power was essential to solve Maxwell’s equations and the equations of motion for electrons and positrons according to Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity.
In the equatorial plane of the black hole, the researchers’ calculations revealed intense reconnection activity, leading to the formation of a chain of plasmoids – a condensation of plasma in energetic “bubbles” – moving at nearly the speed of light. According to the scientists, this process is accompanied by the generation of particles with negative energy that is used to power extreme astrophysical phenomena like jets and plasma eruptions.
“Our results open up the fascinating possibility that the Blandford–Znajek mechanism is not the only astrophysical process capable of extracting rotational energy from a black hole,” says Dr. Filippo Camilloni, who also worked on the FPIC project, “but that magnetic reconnection also contributes.”
“With our work, we can demonstrate how energy is efficiently extracted from rotating black holes and channeled into jets,” says Rezzolla. “This allows us to help explain the extreme luminosities of active galactic nuclei as well as the acceleration of particles to nearly the speed of light.” He adds that it is incredibly exciting and fascinating to better understand what happens near a black hole using sophisticated numerical codes. “At the same time, it is even more rewarding to be able to explain the results of these complex simulations with a rigorous mathematical treatment — as we have done in our work.”
Journal
The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Method of Research
Computational simulation/modeling
Subject of Research
Not applicable
Article Title
Electromagnetic Energy Extraction from Kerr Black Holes: Ab-Initio Calculations
Article Publication Date
6-Oct-2025
Rocket test proves bacteria survive space launch and re-entry unharmed
A world-first study has proven microbes essential for human health can survive the extreme forces of space launch.
RMIT University
image:
The payload section of the Suborbital Express 3 - M15 59 sounding rocket on the assembly pad.
view moreCredit: Gail Iles, RMIT University
A world-first study has proven microbes essential for human health can survive the extreme forces of space launch.
Space agencies are planning to send crews to Mars within decades but sustaining life on the red planet would be more difficult if important bacteria die during the flight.
Now an Australian-led study has found the spores of Bacilus subtilis, a bacterium essential for human health, can survive rapid acceleration, short-duration microgravity and rapid deceleration.
The spores of bacteria were launched high into the sky, then studied once their rocket fell back to earth, in what is believed to be the first study of its kind in real conditions outside the lab.
Study co-author Distinguished Professor Elena Ivanova from RMIT University said the findings add to our overall understanding of how living organisms respond to the unique environment of space.
“Our research showed an important type of bacteria for our health can withstand rapid gravity changes, acceleration and deacceleration,” Ivanova said.
“It’s broadened our understanding on the effects of long-term spaceflight on microorganisms that live in our bodies and keep us healthy.
“This means we can design better life support systems for astronauts to keep them healthy during long missions.
“Researchers and pharmaceutical companies can also use this data to conduct innovative life science experiments in microgravity.”
Although humans have been living on board space stations for short stints since the 1970s, bacteria like B. subtilis are important to sustain healthy human life over decades, which will be needed for a future Mars colony. B. subtilis bacteria contribute towards support the immune system, gut health and blood circulation.
The test
For the study, researchers blasted the spores to the edge of space in a sounding rocket subjected to several extreme conditions in a short time including rapid acceleration, deceleration and very low gravity.
Although B. subtilis is known to be tougher than other microbes, testing this variety sets a benchmark for further study on other, more delicate, organisms.
During the launch, the rocket experienced a maximum acceleration of about 13 g – 13 times the force of Earth's gravity – during the second stage burn phase.
After reaching an altitude of about 260 kilometres, the main engine cut off, initiating a period of weightlessness called microgravity that lasted for more than six minutes.
Upon re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, the payload experienced extreme deceleration, with forces up to 30 g while spinning about 220 times per second.
After the flight, spores showed no changes in their ability to grow and their structure stayed the same, indicating a key microbe for human health can survive the journey.
RMIT space science expert Associate Professor Gail Iles said understanding how microorganisms survive in space is crucial for the future of space travel.
"This research enhances our understanding of how life can endure harsh conditions, providing valuable insights for future missions to Mars and beyond,” she said.
“By ensuring these microbes can endure high acceleration, near-weightlessness and rapid deceleration, we can better support astronauts' health and develop sustainable life support systems.”
Benefits for life on Earth
Understanding the limits of microbial survival could lead to innovations in biotechnology, where microorganisms are used in extreme environments on Earth.
“Potential applications of this research extend far beyond space exploration,” Ivanova said.
“They include developing new antibacterial treatments and enhancing our ability to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
“We’re a while away from anything like that but now we have a baseline to guide future research.”
Iles said the findings add to our overall understanding of how living organisms respond to the unique environment of space.
“Microbes play essential roles in sustaining human health and environmental sustainability, so they’re an essential factor of any long-term space mission,” she said.
“Broader knowledge of microbial resilience in harsh environments could also open new possibilities for discovering life on other planets.
“It could guide the development of more effective life-detection missions, helping us to identify and study microbial life forms that could thrive in environments previously thought to be uninhabitable."
Space industry links
RMIT collaborated with space tech firm ResearchSat and drug delivery company Numedico Technologies on the research, which involved transporting the bacteria from Melbourne to Sweden.
The launch was hosted by the Swedish Space Corporation and featured a custom 3D-printed microtube holder developed by ResearchSat and RMIT.
The sample was prepared and later analysed at the RMIT Microscopy and Microanalysis Facility, which houses state-of-the-art electron microscopes, surface analysis and microanalysis instrumentation.
Now the team is seeking further funding to further facilitate researching life sciences in microgravity, which could lead to improvements in drug delivery, discovery and chemistry. For more information, email research.partnerships@rmit.edu.au.
‘Effects of Extreme Acceleration, Microgravity, and Deceleration on Bacillus subtilis Onboard a Suborbital Space Flight’ is published in npj Microgravity. DOI: 10.1038/s41526-025-00526-4
Rocket section for rideshare payloads.
Credit
Gail Iles, RMIT University
Journal
npj Microgravity
Method of Research
Experimental study
Subject of Research
Not applicable
Article Title
Effects of Extreme Acceleration, Microgravity, and Deceleration on Bacillus subtilis Onboard a Suborbital Space Flight
Article Publication Date
6-Oct-2025
Bringing the digital revolution to direct exoplanet imaging with PLACID’s LCD technology
Europlanet
image:
The PLACID instrument.
view moreCredit: University of Bern/PLACID
A game-changing instrument is set to improve the detection and direct imaging of planets outside our Solar System by harnessing the power of liquid crystals. The Programmable Liquid-crystal Active Coronagraphic Imager for the DAG telescope (PLACID) was installed earlier this year at the 4m-diameter telescope of the newly-built Eastern Anatolian Observatory (DAG) observatory in Eastern Turkey. Now in the integration and validation phase, the first on-sky observations of PLACID are expected in the first quarter of 2026.
PLACID, which has been developed by a team of Swiss researchers from the University of Bern in cooperation with the University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland of Yverdon (HEIG-VD), will join the small club of direct high-contrast imaging facilities in the northern hemisphere. The technology and status of the instrument, as well as the science it will enable, were presented at the recent EPSC-DPS2025 Joint Meeting in Helsinki.
Most of the nearly 6000 exoplanets discovered to date have been found using indirect methods, which focus on periodic changes of the host star’s apparent properties to infer the existence of a planet. Direct imaging requires an ‘eclipse machine’, known as a coronagraph, to mask the light of a star and reveal any body orbiting it – planets, discs, or brown dwarfs. To date, only a few dozen exoplanets have been directly imaged, as it is highly challenging to take an actual picture of a dim planet next to its very bright host star. Nonetheless, direct imaging is infinitely valuable for scientists as it can provide unique insights into how planets form and their composition, particularly their atmosphere.
“With recent developments in technology and the construction of increasingly large telescopes, the future of exoplanet detection lies in direct imaging. PLACID is one of the stepping stones towards this future,” said Prof Jonas Kühn of the University of Bern in Switzerland, who leads the PLACID project. “It will revolutionise our approach to coronagraphs and bring them into the digital domain.”
Rather than placing a physical plate very precisely in the light path of a telescope, PLACID uses a Spatial Light Modulator (SLM) that relies on the optical properties of liquid crystals to change the optical path or ‘phase’ of light waves for each pixel across a screen. This allows very complex masks to be created at the click of a button.
“We use SLM screens all the time in every-day devices, such as our phones, TVs or computers. In PLACID, the liquid crystals influence how the light passes through each pixel, so we can display any mask we want, giving us an extreme adaptability,” explained Ruben Tandon, a doctoral candidate at the University of Bern and member of the PLACID team.
PLACID’s programming of advanced masks also gives it the exclusive capacity to do direct imaging of so-called circumbinary planets and proto-planetary discs – the cradles for planet formation – orbiting binary or multiple stars. With a traditional coronagraph, this is very challenging, since the unique and variable orbital configuration of each star system makes it almost impossible to set up plates that can block the light from the multiple stars. Thus, while such stars represent about 50% of all stars in our galaxy, no exoplanet orbiting more than one star has been directly imaged to date.
“With PLACID, we can simply adapt the mask in real time to perfectly block the light of any star systems we choose to observe through the night,” said Tandon, who compiled the catalogue of targets for the instrument. “While we will start by targeting the small number of exoplanets that have already been directly imaged to better understand the instrument behaviour, our next step will be to try to directly image exoplanets orbiting binary stars, which will be a first.”
The PLACID instrument, which has been almost a decade in development at the University of Bern, was assembled in the laboratory facilities of the HEIG-VD in Switzerland. After comprehensive laboratory testing to ensure it would meet the expected performances, the instrument was shipped to Turkey in early 2024 and delivered to the DAG telescope for installation in January 2025.
“As with any novel idea, building PLACID involved some risk, but we thankfully benefitted from the support of the National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS and the Division of Space Research and Planetary Science of the University of Bern, who enabled us to do early validation of the technology, before the Türkiye National Observatories (TNO) awarded us the procurement contract. And later, the ERC review panel funded the science exploitation,” said Kühn.
For the instrument performance to be fully harnessed, it also needs to be paired with an Adaptive Optics (AO) system, built by the team of Prof Laurent Jolissaint of HEIG-VD, which will reduce the effects of atmospheric turbulence. The two instruments are in their final stages of installation and will enable PLACID to observe its first targets in the first quarter of 2026.
“We are happy to welcome PLACID. Its capacities, coupled with our 4-meter class telescope, will lead to the first fully-European instrument in the northern hemisphere able to directly image exoplanets,” concluded Derya Öztürk Çetni, the PLACID instrument scientist from TNO.
Ruben Tandon and Jonas Kuehn work on the PLACID instrument.
The PLACID Team at the DAG telescope for the installation of the PLACID instrument.
Installation of the PLACID Instrument at the DAG telescope.
The PLACID team oversee the installation of the instrument at the DAG telescope.
The PLACID Instrument is lifted into place at the DAG telescope.
Credit
University of Bern/PLACID.
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