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Saturn-mass world discovered orbiting two low-mass stars

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You just established a settlement on an Earth-like planetary body far from our solar system. You did your evening chores after eating dinner, and you want to go out for the evening view, which consists of two setting stars, reminiscent of the infamous scene in Star Wars. However, there’s one major difference: a large planetary body is in the sky. As you were aware before arriving, you’re on an exomoon orbiting a Saturn-sized exoplanet, both of which orbits two stars.

While this incredible experience might be centuries away, this hasn’t stopped a large international team of researchers from announcing the discovery of a Saturn-sized exoplanet orbiting two M-dwarf stars, which are smaller and cooler than our Sun. The findings from this incredible discovery were recently published in the Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific and were made using a lesser-known exoplanet discovery method known as gravitational microlensing, or microlensing for short.

The researchers are designating the discovery as the microlensing event KMT-2016BLG-1337L, is located approximately 7,000 parsecs (22,800 light-years) from Earth. The researchers used a series of light curve models to ascertain the masses of the exoplanet, stars, and orbital distances for both.

While the first model estimated the exoplanet is estimated to be 0.3 Jupiter masses and an estimated distance from its host star of 4 astronomical units (AU), the second model estimates the exoplanet is approximately 7 Jupiter masses with an estimated distance of 1.5 AU. For context, the planet Saturn is approximately 0.3 Jupiter masses. Despite this disagreement of the exoplanet mass and orbital distance, both models were consistent in their estimates of the two M-dwarf stars that comprise the binary star system, estimated to be 0.54 and 0.40 masses of our Sun and separated by approximately 3.5 AU.

The study notes, “The event KMT-2016-BLG-1337L underscores the capability of microlensing to reveal planets in dynamically complex stellar environments, including systems that are inaccessible to conventional detection techniques. This expands the census of planets in multiple-star systems and contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of planet formation in such environments.”

As noted, microlensing is a lesser-known exoplanet discovery method, being responsible for confirming just over 250 exoplanets of the more than 6,100 confirmed exoplanets. As its official name implies, microlensing uses the gravity from one star as a lens to magnify the light from a background star when a planet passes in between both stars. Since a star’s gravity is so massive, it warps (or bends) the observed space around it, while also enabling light from behind it through this warped region and be observed from our point of view. This differs from the transit method, which is the most common exoplanet discovery method, as it detects a dip in starlight as a planet passes in front of it. In contrast, microlensing requires two stars for the method to be successful and for an exoplanet to be detected passing between both stars.

While this discovery is notable, KMT-2016BLG-1337L is not the only Saturn-mass exoplanet discovered using the microlensing method, as the researchers note that OGLE-2007-BLG-349L was the first confirmed exoplanet in a binary system, also being a Saturn-sized planet whose findings were published in The Astronomical Journal in 2016. The major difference between the two discoveries is KMT-2016BLG-1337L orbits one of the two stars while OGLE-2007-BLG-349L orbits both stars at once. KMT-2016BLG-1337L orbiting only one star also demonstrates how planets can survive form, evolve, and survive orbiting a single star without the second star influencing its formation and survival.

How many more Saturn-sized exoplanets will be discovered using the microlensing method in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!

As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!

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San Diego County agency sells some of its water to another supplier

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San Diego County’s water agency is selling some of its water to another Southern California agency to help limit increasingly high water costs for 3.3 million people.

The water is going to Western Municipal Water District, which serves a growing area of nearly 1 million people in Riverside County, including Corona, Riverside and Temecula.

The San Diego County Water Authority will transfer at least 10,000 acre-feet of water per year over the next 21 years, enough for about 30,000 typical households.

The agencies said the deal will be worth about $100 million over the first five years.

The San Diego County agency has invested heavily to get more water in recent decades. In 2003, it struck an agriculture-to-urban transfer deal and it also buys water from the Carlsbad desalination plant under a 30-year agreement. These actions have brought San Diego County plentiful water — also some of the most expensive in the state. At the same time, conservation efforts in San Diego County have reduced water needs.

The San Diego County Water Authority delivers water to 22 cities and other agencies. Last year its board approved raising wholesale water rates 8.3%, which drew criticism from residents who said they were already struggling to afford their water bills.

Board Chair Nick Serrano said the deal “allows us to maximize the value of the investments San Diego County residents made over decades, strengthen water reliability, and do so in a way that is mindful of affordability.”

The two agencies said in a joint statement on Thursday that for Western Municipal, the additional water will help during drought and ensure reliable water without the cost and time involved in developing new water infrastructure projects.

The water will move from one area to the other through the pipelines of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the regional wholesaler that imports water from the Colorado River and Northern California. Both San Diego County and Western Municipal are members of the MWD.

An agreement between the MWD and the San Diego County Water Authority last year ended a 15-year legal battle over water costs and cleared the way for San Diego County to start selling some of its excess water to areas that need it.

News

ICE Released Hundreds of Children from Immigration Detention

About 50 children were in federal detention in Dilley, Texas this week, down from about 500 in January. It is unclear how many were deported, but some are back at their U.S. schools.

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Canada Allocates $200 Million Towards the Creation of Nation’s First Spaceport

In a recent statement, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that the federal government is investing $200 million towards Canada’s first launch pad in Nova Scotia. The site is owned by Maritime Launch Services, a Canadian commercial space company founded in 2016 and headquartered in Halifax, Nova Scotia. This investment reflects the federal government’s recently released Defense Industrial Strategy, issued by the Defense Industrial Agency (DIA). This document establishes aerospace and aerospace platforms as one of Canada’s “key sovereign capabilities.”

The announcement was issued by Defense Minister David McGuinty on Monday, March 16th, during a press conference at the CSA David Florida Laboratory in Ottawa. As he outlined, the $200 million will be put toward a 10-year lease on the launch pad, located near Canso, N.S., which is expected to finish construction by 2028. Once operational, the facility will be Canada’s first commercial spaceport dedicated to launching and servicing defense, science, and commercial satellites, and fostering technological innovation.

“About 20 per cent of the Canadian economy relies on satellites — our banking systems, our cellphone systems, our transactions.” McGuinty was quoted as saying in a CBC News story. “So, we want to be able to give [ourselves] more sovereignty and security on that front.”

This is increasingly important given the growing number of commercial space companies and the dramatic increase in satellites being sent into orbit. At the same time, more nations are building launch sites to enable domestic launch capability. The issue of sovereignty is crucial amid ongoing supply chain issues and tensions between the current U.S. administration and its allies, which could potentially endanger the Canadian Space Agency’s (CSA) ability to launch its satellites aboard U.S. rockets. Sovereign launch capacity will also help prevent Canadian satellites from spending years waiting in a launch queue.

*Nordspace’s Tundra rocket at the company launch facility in Newfoundland. Credit: Nordspace*

McGuinty hinted at this in his speech, saying Ottawa does not want to be entirely dependent on third parties to launch rockets (though he didn’t name names). McGuinty also announced that Canada plans to become a full member of the NATO Starlift initiative, an Overarching Space Policy entered into by NATO allies to create a space-launch network to safeguard satellite communications against potential threats (like Russia and China).

Stephen Matier, CEO of Maritime Launch Services, said that a sovereign launch capability is a big step for Canada, and the federal contract sends a strong signal to the market about the spaceport’s development. “For years, we’ve been taking our satellites from MDA Space or Kepler or those here in Canada and writing big cheques to SpaceX to launch them from Florida or from California,” he said. “SpaceX is selling extra space on their rockets … but you don’t get to go where you want to go or when you want to go.”

Sarah Gallagher, a former CSA adviser and now the director of Western University’s Institute for Earth and Space Exploration, said there are not many countries worldwide with sovereign launch capabilities:

We have our own space assets in outer space, and so being able to access them immediately with resources that we have control over is quite important. The other thing is that having a launch site actually in Nova Scotia is really advantageous. The latitude of Nova Scotia can give you access to different kinds of orbits, which is useful depending on what you’re trying to do. Obviously, we care a lot about the North, and so having a launch site that’s at northern latitudes can be used for that.

In related news, the Canadian aerospace company NordSpace (based in Markham, Ontario) was selected as a winner of the “Launch the North: Accelerating Canada’s Sovereign Access to Space” challenge. This incentive competition aims to accelerate the advancement of Canadian-designed launch vehicles and supporting technologies, and enable domestic launch capability.

*Aerial View of NordSpace’s Atlantic Spaceport Complex (ASX) Space Launch Complex (SLC) 02 Under Construction, Newfoundland and Labrador. Credit: Nordspace*

The challenge is administered by the Department of National Defense (DND) and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) through the Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security (IDEaS) program (launched in February). This program provides funding and expertise to advance the research and development of defense-related technologies. The competition will award a total prize pool of up to $105 million over three years, divided into three phases.

Per the competition, NordSpace has been awarded a $8.33 million Phase 1 grant to fund the development of its Tundra orbital launch vehicle, an end-to-end orbital launch system that aims to be Canada’s first domestically designed, built, and operated rocket. This two-stage rocket relies on a modular turbopump-fed liquid bipropellant propulsion system, known as the “Hadfield engine,” which powers both the multi-engine first-stage cluster and the single-engine vacuum-optimized second stage, thereby reducing development and risk.

The Tundra rocket is reportedly capable of delivering over 500 kg (1,100 lbs) to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and over 350 kg (770 lbs) to a Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO). The upgraded version, the Tundra+ configuration, will reportedly be able to deliver 1,100 kg (2,425 lbs) to LEO and 850 kg (1875 lbs) to SSO. The Hadfield’s modular engine architecture also offers the potential for direct scaling that could lead to NordSpace’s planned Titan medium-lift vehicle, targeting a payload capacity of over 5,000 kg (11,000 lbs) to LEO. As NordSpace CEO & Founder Rahul Goel said in a company statement:

At NordSpace, we have been working for years to develop scalable end-to-end space launch capabilities for Canada, and today our nation has sent an unequivocal signal that Canada too will become a spacefaring nation capable of assured access to space. For NordSpace, sovereign launch is certainly about securing our national interests, building a stronger economy, and supporting our allies.

However, it is also about healthier food on our plates, clearer communication with loved ones, faster responses to environmental challenges, reshoring advanced manufacturing, and revivifying Canadian dynamism.

The Defense Industrial Strategy and Launch the North represent the most significant investment in Canadian space launch capability in the nation’s history. As Canada’s reliance on space-based communications, navigation, intelligence, surveillance, and early warning systems deepens, the absence of a sovereign launch capability is a national security issue. These programs and the investments they entail are seen as a way to secure Canada’s strategic autonomy in space, promote innovation, and establish Canada as a leader in commercial and defense-oriented space services.

Further Reading: CBC, Nordspace