Lisa Kaltenegger

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Lisa Kaltenegger
Lisa Kaltenegger.jpg
Lisa Kaltenegger standing in front of Cornell's Big Red Barn
Born4 March 1977 (1977-03-04) (age 47)
Austria
Known forExoplanet atmospheres
Scientific career
Fields Astrophysics
Exoplanets
Institutions Cornell University
Carl Sagan Institute

Lisa Kaltenegger (born 4 March 1977 in Kuchl nearby Salzburg) is an Austrian astronomer specialising in the modeling and characterization of exoplanets and the search for life. On July 1, 2014, she was appointed Associate Professor of Astronomy at Cornell University. [1] [2] Previously, she held a joint position at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg where she was the Emmy Noether Research Group Leader for the "Super-Earths and Life" group, and at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian in Cambridge, MA. [3] She was appointed Lecturer in 2008 at Harvard University and 2011 at University of Heidelberg. [4]

Contents

Academic career

Kaltenegger earned a degree in astrophysics in 1999 from Karl Franzens University in Graz, Austria; a master’s in physics and engineering in 2001 from the Graz University of Technology; and a doctorate in astrophysics in 2005 from Karl Franzens University. [5] Her Ph.D. was awarded Sub auspiciis Praesidentis by the Austrian president. [6]

Kaltenegger is known for her studies of the atmospheres of extrasolar planets, especially Earth-like ones [7] [8] and is a pioneer in the study of the Earth as an astronomical object evolving in time. She studied the change in the Earth's spectral fingerprint as a comparison with the evolutionary stages of Earthlike exoplanets to generate an "Alien ID Chart" [9] [10] - pointing out that as biology and geology change the Earth through the ages, its appearance to a telescope observing it from distant stars would also change. She also investigated the ability of future telescopes like the James Webb Space Telescope to detect evidence of life using spectral biomarkers (biosignatures) [11] and generated the first spectra of Earth seen as a transiting exoplanet in 2009, concluding that it will be a hard problem for JWST and bigger future telescopes are needed to find signatures of life on many planets. [12]

In 2009, Kaltenegger discussed how one can determine habitability for moons around giant planets [13] [14] coinciding with the suggestion of such a moon in the movie Avatar . [15]

In 2010, Kaltenegger explored whether we could observe geological activity, that is very important for habitability, on exoplanets, finding that about 10 times Pinatubo eruptions could be detected around the closest exoplanets, showing us if other planets are similar to our own Earth. In 2011, she led a team to model the spectral fingerprint of Gliese 581 d, one of the first small Radial Velocity planets to be discovered in the habitable zone of its star. [16]

In 2013, Kaltenegger was part of the team announcing the discovery of the first two potentially habitable Kepler planets, with radii smaller than 2 Earth radii in the habitable zone of their stars, Kepler 62e and Kepler 62f [17] and investigated whether or not these planets could still be habitable and how their spectra would look like if they were water worlds. [18]

In 2021, Kaltenegger and J. K. Faherty identified 1,715 stars (with likely related exoplanetary systems) within 326 light-years (100 parsecs) that have a favorable positional vantage point—in relation to the Earth Transit Zone (ETZ)—of detecting Earth as an exoplanet transiting the Sun since the beginnings of human civilization (about 5,000 years ago); an additional 319 stars are expected to arrive at this special vantage point in the next 5,000 years. [19]

Kaltenegger served four years[ when? ] on the Executive Council of NASA's Exoplanet Exploration Program Analysis Group (Exo-PAG) [20] and is part of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) [21] and FGS/NIRISS [22] science team. Kaltenegger is the founder[ citation needed ] and current director [23] of the Carl Sagan Institute at Cornell University.

Honours

Asteroid 7734 Kaltenegger is named after Kaltenegger. [24] In 2007 she was named America's Young Innovator in Arts and Science by Smithsonian Magazine and received the Paul Hertelendy Prize for Outstanding Young Scientist at the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. In 2012 she was named an EC Role Model for the Women in Research & Science Campaign of the EU and was awarded the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz-Preis in physics [25] awarded annually to only six young researchers in all fields of science in Germany. In 2013 she was selected as PI for the Simons Origins of Life Initiative [26] as well as PI for the Japanese Earth and Life Science Institute (ELIS). [27] In 2014 she received the Christian-Doppler Prize of the city of Salzburg for Science and Innovations. [28]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exoplanet</span> Planet outside the Solar System

An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet outside the Solar System. The first possible evidence of an exoplanet was noted in 1917 but was not then recognized as such. The first confirmation of the detection occurred in 1992. A different planet, first detected in 1988, was confirmed in 2003. According to statistics from the NASA Exoplanet Archive, As of 17 October 2024, there are 5,780 confirmed exoplanets in 4,314 planetary systems, with 969 systems having more than one planet. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is expected to discover more exoplanets, and to give more insight into their traits, such as their composition, environmental conditions, and potential for life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kepler space telescope</span> NASA space telescope for exoplanetology (2009–2018)

The Kepler space telescope is a defunct space telescope launched by NASA in 2009 to discover Earth-sized planets orbiting other stars. Named after astronomer Johannes Kepler, the spacecraft was launched into an Earth-trailing heliocentric orbit. The principal investigator was William J. Borucki. After nine and a half years of operation, the telescope's reaction control system fuel was depleted, and NASA announced its retirement on October 30, 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Habitable zone</span> Orbits where planets may have liquid surface water

In astronomy and astrobiology, the habitable zone (HZ), or more precisely the circumstellar habitable zone (CHZ), is the range of orbits around a star within which a planetary surface can support liquid water given sufficient atmospheric pressure. The bounds of the HZ are based on Earth's position in the Solar System and the amount of radiant energy it receives from the Sun. Due to the importance of liquid water to Earth's biosphere, the nature of the HZ and the objects within it may be instrumental in determining the scope and distribution of planets capable of supporting Earth-like extraterrestrial life and intelligence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exomoon</span> Moon beyond the Solar System

An exomoon or extrasolar moon is a natural satellite that orbits an exoplanet or other non-stellar extrasolar body.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Super-Earth</span> Type of exoplanet

A Super-Earth or super-terran is a type of exoplanet with a mass higher than Earth's, but substantially below those of the Solar System's ice giants, Uranus and Neptune, which are 14.5 and 17 times Earth's, respectively. The term "super-Earth" refers only to the mass of the planet, and so does not imply anything about the surface conditions or habitability. The alternative term "gas dwarfs" may be more accurate for those at the higher end of the mass scale, although "mini-Neptunes" is a more common term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite</span> NASA satellite of the Explorer program

Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is a space telescope for NASA's Explorer program, designed to search for exoplanets using the transit method in an area 400 times larger than that covered by the Kepler mission. It was launched on 18 April 2018, atop a Falcon 9 launch vehicle and was placed into a highly elliptical 13.70-day orbit around the Earth. The first light image from TESS was taken on 7 August 2018, and released publicly on 17 September 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Discoveries of exoplanets</span> Detecting planets located outside the Solar System

An exoplanet is a planet located outside the Solar System. The first evidence of an exoplanet was noted as early as 1917, but was not recognized as such until 2016; no planet discovery has yet come from that evidence. What turned out to be the first detection of an exoplanet was published among a list of possible candidates in 1988, though not confirmed until 2003. The first confirmed detection came in 1992, with the discovery of terrestrial-mass planets orbiting the pulsar PSR B1257+12. The first confirmation of an exoplanet orbiting a main-sequence star was made in 1995, when a giant planet was found in a four-day orbit around the nearby star 51 Pegasi. Some exoplanets have been imaged directly by telescopes, but the vast majority have been detected through indirect methods, such as the transit method and the radial-velocity method. As of 24 July 2024, there are 7,026 confirmed exoplanets in 4,949 planetary systems, with 1007 systems having more than one planet. This is a list of the most notable discoveries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kepler-22b</span> Super-Earth exoplanet orbiting Kepler-22

Kepler-22b is an exoplanet orbiting within the habitable zone of the Sun-like star Kepler-22. It is located about 640 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Cygnus. It was discovered by NASA's Kepler Space Telescope in December 2011 and was the first known transiting planet to orbit within the habitable zone of a Sun-like star, where liquid water could exist on the planet's surface. Kepler-22 is too dim to be seen with the naked eye.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Habitability of K-type main-sequence star systems</span> Overview of the habitability of K-type main-sequence star systems

K-type main-sequence stars, also known as orange dwarfs, may be candidates for supporting extraterrestrial life. These stars are known as "Goldilocks stars" as they emit enough radiation in the non-UV ray spectrum to provide a temperature that allows liquid water to exist on the surface of a planet; they also remain stable in the main sequence longer than the Sun by burning their hydrogen slower, allowing more time for life to form on a planet around a K-type main-sequence star. The planet's habitable zone, ranging from 0.1–0.4 to 0.3–1.3 astronomical units (AU), depending on the size of the star, is often far enough from the star so as not to be tidally locked to the star, and to have a sufficiently low solar flare activity not to be lethal to life. In comparison, red dwarf stars have too much solar activity and quickly tidally lock the planets in their habitable zones, making them less suitable for life. The odds of complex life arising may be better on planets around K-type main-sequence stars than around Sun-like stars, given the suitable temperature and extra time available for it to evolve. Some planets around K-type main-sequence stars are potential candidates for extraterrestrial life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kepler-69c</span> Super-Earth orbiting Kepler-69

Kepler-69c is a confirmed super-Earth exoplanet, likely rocky, orbiting the Sun-like star Kepler-69, the outermore of two such planets discovered by NASA's Kepler spacecraft. It is located about 2,430 light-years from Earth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kepler-62</span> K-type star in the constellation Lyra

Kepler-62 is a K-type main sequence star cooler and smaller than the Sun, located roughly 980 light-years from Earth in the constellation Lyra. It resides within the field of vision of the Kepler spacecraft, the satellite that NASA's Kepler Mission used to detect planets that may be transiting their stars. On April 18, 2013, it was announced that the star has five planets, two of which, Kepler-62e and Kepler-62f are within the star's habitable zone. The outermost, Kepler-62f, is likely a rocky planet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kepler-62e</span> Habitable-zone super-Earth planet orbiting Kepler-62

Kepler-62e is a super-Earth exoplanet discovered orbiting within the habitable zone of Kepler-62, the second outermost of five such planets discovered by NASA's Kepler spacecraft. Kepler-62e is located about 990 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Lyra. The exoplanet was found using the transit method, in which the dimming effect that a planet causes as it crosses in front of its star is measured. Kepler-62e may be a terrestrial or ocean-covered planet; it lies in the inner part of its host star's habitable zone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kepler-62f</span> Super-Earth orbiting Kepler-62

Kepler-62f is a super-Earth exoplanet orbiting within the habitable zone of the star Kepler-62, the outermost of five such planets discovered around the star by NASA's Kepler space telescope. It is located about 982 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Lyra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kepler-90h</span> Exoplanet in the constellation Draco

Kepler-90h is an exoplanet orbiting within the habitable zone of the early G-type main sequence star Kepler-90, the outermost of eight such planets discovered by NASA's Kepler spacecraft. It is located about 2,840 light-years, from Earth in the constellation Draco. The exoplanet was found by using the transit method, in which the dimming effect that a planet causes as it crosses in front of its star is measured.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kepler-438b</span> Super-Earth orbiting Kepler-438

Kepler-438b is a confirmed near-Earth-sized exoplanet. It is likely rocky. It orbits on the inner edge of the habitable zone of a red dwarf, Kepler-438, about 460.2 light-years from Earth in the constellation Lyra. It receives 1.4 times our solar flux. The planet was discovered by NASA's Kepler spacecraft using the transit method, in which the dimming effect that a planet causes as it crosses in front of its star is measured. NASA announced the confirmation of the exoplanet on 6 January 2015.

The Carl Sagan Institute: Pale Blue Dot and Beyond was founded in 2014 at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York to further the search for habitable planets and moons in and outside the Solar System. It is focused on the characterization of exoplanets and the instruments to search for signs of life in the universe. The founder and current director of the institute is astronomer Lisa Kaltenegger.

Kepler-419c is a super-Jupiter exoplanet orbiting within the habitable zone of the star Kepler-419, the outermost of two such planets discovered by NASA's Kepler spacecraft. It is located about 3,400 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cygnus. The exoplanet was found by using the transit timing variation method, in which the variations of transit data from an exoplanet are studied to reveal a more distant companion.

TOI-700 is a red dwarf 101.4 light-years away from Earth located in the Dorado constellation that hosts TOI-700 d, the first Earth-sized exoplanet in the habitable zone discovered by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TOI-700 d</span> Goldilocks terrestrial planet orbiting TOI-700

TOI-700 d is a near-Earth-sized exoplanet, likely rocky, orbiting within the habitable zone of the red dwarf TOI-700, the outermost planet within the system. It is located roughly 101.4 light-years (31.1 pc) away from Earth in the constellation of Dorado. The exoplanet is the first Earth-sized exoplanet in the habitable zone discovered by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS).

References

  1. ↑ Hovis, Kathy (2014-06-25). "Lisa Kaltenegger searches for another 'pale blue dot' | Cornell Chronicle". news.cornell.edu.
  2. ↑ "Lisa Kaltenegger | Carl Sagan Institute". carlsaganinstitute.cornell.edu. Retrieved 2023-02-07.
  3. ↑ Gewin, Virginia (2012-04-25). "Turning point: Lisa Kaltenegger". Nature. 484 (7395): 555. doi: 10.1038/nj7395-555a .
  4. ↑ "Introducing Astrophysicist Lisa Kaltenegger - Simulating Worlds Stranger than Fiction". Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-07-03. Bridges, Vol. 20, December 2008
  5. ↑ "NASA Astrobiology: Life in the Universe". Archived from the original on 2013-03-21. Retrieved 2014-09-18. NASA
  6. ↑ "Introducing Astrophysicist Lisa Kaltenegger - Simulating Worlds Stranger than Fiction". Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-07-03. Bridges, Vol. 20, December 2008
  7. ↑ Kluger, Jeffrey (2014-01-02). "Finding A Second Earth". Time. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
  8. ↑ Gast, Robert (2012-06-06). "Astrophysikerin Kaltenegger: Detektivin im Weltall". Die Zeit (in German). ISSN   0044-2070.
  9. ↑ Seife, Charles (2007-10-02). "Signs of Life". Smithsonian.
  10. ↑ Kaltenegger, L.; Traub, W. A.; Jucks, K. W. (2007). "Spectral Evolution of an Earth-Like Planet". The Astrophysical Journal. 658 (1): 598–616. arXiv: astro-ph/0609398 . Bibcode:2007ApJ...658..598K. doi:10.1086/510996. S2CID   28813409. article on Spectral Evolution of an Earth-like planet through geological time
  11. ↑ Kaltenegger, L.; Traub, W. A. (2009). "Transits of Earth-Like Planets". The Astrophysical Journal. 698 (1): 519–527. arXiv: 0903.3371 . Bibcode:2009ApJ...698..519K. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/698/1/519. S2CID   53636156.
  12. ↑ Kaltenegger, L.; Traub, W. A. (2009). "Transits of Earth-Like Planets". The Astrophysical Journal. 698 (1): 519–527. arXiv: 0903.3371 . Bibcode:2009ApJ...698..519K. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/698/1/519. S2CID   53636156.
  13. ↑ Choi, Charles (2009-12-27). "Moons Like Avatar's Pandora Could Be Found". Space.com . Retrieved 2012-12-28.
  14. ↑ Kaltenegger, L. (2009). "Characterizing Habitable Exo-Moons". The Astrophysical Journal. 712 (2): L125–L130. arXiv: 0912.3484 . Bibcode:2010ApJ...712L.125K. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/712/2/L125. S2CID   117385339.
  15. ↑ "Can We Spot Volcanoes on Alien Worlds? Astronomers Say Yes". cfa.harvard.edu. 2010-09-07. Retrieved 2014-10-22.
  16. ↑ Stampf, Olaf (2010-10-08). "The Twin Earths of Gliese 581: Two Exoplanets May Support Life - SPIEGEL ONLINE". Spiegel Online. spiegel.de. Retrieved 2014-10-22.
  17. ↑ "Kepler Makes Discoveries Inside the Habitable Zone - YouTube". youtube.com. Retrieved 2014-10-22.
  18. ↑ "Two Water Worlds for the Price of One". cfa.harvard.edu. 2013-04-18. Retrieved 2014-10-22.
  19. ↑ Kaltenegger, L.; Faherty, J.K. (23 June 2021). "Past, present and future stars that can see Earth as a transiting exoplanet". Nature . 594 (7864): 505–507. arXiv: 2107.07936 . doi:10.1038/s41586-021-03596-y. ISSN   0028-0836. PMID   34163055. S2CID   235626242 . Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  20. ↑ "Exoplanet Program: Overview". Exoplanet Exploration: Planets Beyond our Solar System. Archived from the original on 2010-01-17.
  21. ↑ http://space.mit.edu/TESS/TESS/TESS_Overview.html Archived 2014-02-26 at the Wayback Machine
  22. ↑ "Fine Guidance Sensor/Near InfraRed Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (FGS/NIRISS) Webb/NASA". jwst.nasa.gov.
  23. ↑ "History of Carl Sagan Institute". Archived from the original on 2019-03-01. Retrieved 2018-05-18.
  24. ↑ Alan Chamberlin. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Retrieved 22 Oct 2014.
  25. ↑ "Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize for Lisa Kaltenegger" . Retrieved 28 Dec 2012.
  26. ↑ "Simons Collaboration on the Origins of Life: Lisa Kaltenegger | Simons Foundation". simonsfoundation.org. Archived from the original on 21 September 2015. Retrieved 22 Oct 2014.
  27. ↑ "People | 地球生命研究所 ELSI EARTH-LIFE SCIENCE INSTITUTE". Archived from the original on 2014-01-06. Retrieved 22 Oct 2014.
  28. ↑ "Christian-Doppler-Preis – Salzburgwiki". salzburg.com. Retrieved 22 Oct 2014.
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