Astrophysical: Astrobiology

  • Publication
    Limits on the orbits and masses of moons around currently-known transiting exoplanets
    Aims: Current and upcoming space missions may be able to detect moons of transiting extra-solar planets. In this context it is important to understand if...
  • Publication
    MarcoPolo-R near earth asteroid sample return mission
    MarcoPolo-R is a sample return mission to a primitive Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) proposed in collaboration with NASA. It will rendezvous with a primitive NEA...
  • Publication
    Mid- and far-infrared spectroscopy of nucleobases: molar extinction coefficients, integrated molar absorptivity, and temperature dependence of the main bands
    The nucleobases, namely the purines adenine and guanine and the pyrimidines cytosine, thymine, and uracil, are the key monomers of the information polymers DNA...
  • Publication
    Observations and modelling of earth's transmission spectrum through lunar eclipses: A window to transiting exoplanet characterization
    Recently we were able to retrieve the Earth's transmission spectrum through lunar eclipse observations. This spectrum showed that the depth of most molecular...
  • Publication
    On the Effects of the Evolution of Microbial Mats and Land Plants on the Earth as a Planet. Photometric and Spectroscopic Light Curves of Paleo-Earths
    Understanding the spectral and photometric variability of the Earth and the rest of the solar system planets has become of utmost importance for the future...
  • Publication
    Optical properties of Y dwarfs observed with the Gran Telescopio Canarias
    Aims: Our science goals are to characterise the optical properties of Y dwarfs and to study their consistency with theoretical models. Methods: A sample of five...
  • Talk
    Organic grains in cometary comae
    Comets may have played an important role in depositing the organic matter that, between 4,6 and 3,6 billion of years ago, allowed the formation of life on the...
  • Publication
    Photosynthetic Fluorescence from Earthlike Planets around Sunlike and Cool Stars
    Remote sensing of the Earth has demonstrated that photosynthesis is traceable as the vegetation red edge (VRE), which is a steep rise in the reflection spectrum...
  • Publication
    Reconstructing the Photometric Light Curves of Earth as a Planet along Its History
    By utilizing satellite-based estimations of the distribution of clouds, we have studied Earth's large-scale cloudiness behavior according to latitude and...