Infinite Horizons: June 18th “Observation of Exoplanetary Upper Atmosphere Using Future UV Space Telescope (LAPYUTA)”
Speaker: Prof. Shingo Kameda (Collece of Science, Rikkyo University, Japan)
4pm, Beijing time
We have the pleasure to host the next Infinite Horizons’ seminar on June 18th, 2025. Our host will be Prof. Shingo Kameda from Collece of Science, Rikkyo University. Prof. Kameda will talk about Observation of Exoplanetary Upper Atmosphere Using Future UV Space Telescope (LAPYUTA).
Seminar’s abstract:
Many Earth-sized planets have already been discovered, and several Earth-like planets have been detected in the habitable zone of low-mass stars near the solar system. Transit spectroscopy is one of the effective methods for observing exoplanetary atmospheres, but it requires extremely high precision to observe the thin lower atmospheres of small terrestrial planets, and actually no atmospheres of terrestrial exoplanets have been detected at present. On the other hand, low-mass stars have very strong XUV radiation even in the habitable zone, which would cause the upper atmospheres of terrestrial exoplanets to extend to higher altitudes with high density. In this study, we investigate the possibility of detecting the upper atmospheres of terrestrial exoplanets by transit spectroscopic observations with future ultraviolet space telescopes. There are several atomic and ionic emission lines (H, C, N, and O) in the far UV spectral range. Though we could not immediately conclude that the exoplanet has an ocean even if we detect H and O upper atmosphere, the results of the observations will provide important information for understanding the lower atmosphere and surface environment especially in case the lower atmosphere of the exoplanet cannot be detected.
In this presentation, we introduce the current status of our activity on UV observation using future UV space telescopes and the UV instrument technology development. LAPYUTA is a 60-cm far UV space telescope under study in JAXA. We will have a high resolution spectrograph to detect absorption lines by exoplanetary atmosphere at transit.
Zoom ID: 814 0972 2717
Livestream Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86453751422
(Our Infinite Horizons seminars are usually host on the third Wednesday of the month)
About the speaker:
Shingo Kameda is a Professor at Collece of Science, Rikkyo University and a Specially Appointed Professor at the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). He received a PhD in Science at the University of Tokyo in 2007. He has worked on the instrument development for space missions. He worked as PI of TENGOO/OROCHI, cameras on Martian Moons eXploration (MMX), Deputy PI of Optical Navigation Cameras on Hayabusa2, PI of Lyman Alpha Imaging Camera on PROCYON microspacecraft, etc. Recently, he is working on design study of far UV spectrograph for LAPYUTA and Habitable Worlds Observatory.
