Columbia has joined an international team of scientists as they mark the start of a three-year mission to study stars and how their activity influences the habitability of distant exoplanets.
The Mauve satellite, which launched late last week, will enable the study of transient, energetic phenomena from stars, largely emitted through powerful explosions, or flares, that will affect the planets around them. This emission is largely seen at energetic ultraviolet wavelengths, which Mauve can observe over long periods of time thanks to its sensitivity to light in the 200-700 nanometer range. In addition to stellar flares, research priorities include young exoplanet hosts, hot stars, and binary stars.
The satellite is operated and run by Blue Skies Space, a U.K.-space science data company and was launched aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-15. Columbia is one of several international institutions that have secured subscriptions to access data collected by the satellite.
Marcel Agüeros, a professor of astronomy, and Alejandro Núñez, a research scientist in the Columbia Astrophysics Lab, are the two Columbia researchers joining the Mauve science program, which will use data collected by the satellite.
“I have long been interested in how the high-energy emission of stars like the Sun depends on their fundamental properties, and how that emission changes as stars age,” Agüeros said. “Mauve is an exciting opportunity to join a worldwide community of scientists with similar interests and to explore these questions in our Galactic backyard.”
“Mauve will open a new window on stellar activity that has previously been largely hidden from view,” said Professor Giovanna Tinetti, chief scientist and co-founder of Blue Skies Space. “By observing stars in ultraviolet light, wavelengths that can’t be studied from Earth, we’ll gain a much deeper understanding of how stars behave and how their flares may impact the environment of orbiting exoplanets. Traditional ground-based telescopes just can’t capture this information, so a satellite like Mauve is crucial for furthering our knowledge.”
Learn more about Mauve on Blue Skies Space’s website.
