Data

Transmission Spectra of Earth through Geological Time

Provides a database of high-resolution transmission spectra for Earth-like planets orbiting various host stars, simulating Earth's atmosphere across four geological epochs to aid in the search for biosignatures. This research demonstrates that "smoking gun" biosignature pairs like oxygen (O2) and methane (CH4) (O2+CH4) or ozone (O3) and methane (O3+CH4) can indicate life on an exoplanet, even at 1% of modern Earth's oxygen levels, and provides a vital tool for planning observations with instruments like the James Webb Space Telescope. Paper link: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/abb9b2

Citation:

Kaltenegger et al 2020 ApJ 904 10 DOI 10.3847/1538-4357/abb9b2

Data:

http://biosignatures.astro.cornell.edu/TransmissionSpectraEarthThroughTime.tar.gz
Model Spectra for Earth through geological time from 0.4 to 20 microns at a resolution > 100,000 for 5 epochs through Earth’s geological time from an anoxic atmosphere 3.9 Ga to an anoxic atmosphere with less CO2 and CH4 around 3.5 Ga and 3 models which capture the rise of oxygen from 0.01 PAL O2 to 1PAL (21% O2) on modern Earth, which started around 2.4 billion years ago (Ga).

A Catalog of Spectra, Albedos, and Colors of Solar System bodies for Exoplanet Comparison

This dataset contains the geometric albedo, spectra, and colors of 19 different Solar System objects for use as exoplanet references.

Citation:

J.H. Madden and Lisa Kaltenegger, Astrobiology 2018 18:12, 1559-1573, https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2017.1763

Data:

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3930986

Surface biosignatures of exo-Earths: Remote detection of extraterrestrial life

Reflection measurements for 137 different biopigments of diverse biota from Earth's different environments.

We measured the spectral characteristics of 137 microorganisms containing a range of pigments, including ones isolated from Earth's most extreme environments. Our database covers the visible and near-infrared to the short-wavelength infrared (0.35-2.5 µm) portions of the electromagnetic spectrum and is made freely available.

Citation:

Hedge, Paulino-Lima, Kent, Kaltenegger & Rothschild, Surface biosignatures of exo-Earths: Remote detection of extraterrestrial life, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 112 (13) 3886-3891, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1421237112 (2015).

Data:

biosignatures.astro.cornell.edu

High resolution reflection spectra for Proxima b and Trappist-1e models for ELT observations

Title: High-resolution reflection spectra for Proxima b and Trappist-1e models for ELT observations Authors: Zifan Lin & Lisa Kaltenegger Description: High-resolution reflection spectra of two of the closest potentially habitable exoplanets (Proxima b and Trappist-1e) for a range of terrestrial atmospheres and surface pressures for active and inactive phases of their host stars for both oxic and anoxic conditions.

Citation:

Lin & Kaltenegger, High-resolution reflection spectra for Proxima b and Trappist-1e models for ELT observations, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 491, 2, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stz3213

Data:

Reflection and Emission Spectra of the Earth

* Visible. NIR and infrared spectra for Earth in emergent flux (secondary eclipse or directly images)
* UV, Visible. NIR and infrared spectra for Earth in transmission flux (primary eclipse)
Find more details in these first papers (Kaltenegger et al 2007, Kaltenegger & Traub 2009)

Reflection and Emission Spectra of Earths orbiting different host stars
A database of visible to infrared reflection and emission spectra

Citations:

Rugheimer, Kaltenegger, Segura, Linsky, and Mohanty 2015 ApJ 809 57, DOI 10.1088/0004-637X/809/1/57
Rugheimer, Kaltenegger, Zsom, Segura, and Sasselov, Astrobiology, 13, 3, 2013 https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2012.0888

Data:

Reflection and Emission Spectra of the Earth through geological time

A database of visible to infrared reflection and emission spectra from model Earth through geological time (from 3.9billion years ago to present-day Earth)

Earth orbiting the Sun through geological times (VIS, NIR, IR) Kaltenegger et al 2007, Rugheimer & Kaltenegger 2017
Earth orbiting an F star through geological times (VIS, NIR, IR) Rugheimer & Kaltenegger 2017
Earth orbiting an K star through geological times (VIS, NIR, IR) Rugheimer & Kaltenegger 2017
Earth orbiting an M star through geological times (VIS, NIR, IR) Rugheimer & Kaltenegger 2017

Citation:

Rugheimer and Kaltenegger 2018 ApJ 854 19, DOI 10.3847/1538-4357/aaa47a

Data:

https://lweb.cfa.harvard.edu/~srugheimer/EPOCHspectra/

Planetary spectra of Earth-like planets orbiting White Dwarfs

High-resolution transmission spectra and biosignature profiles for Earth-like planets orbiting white dwarfs, using models for planets receiving Earth-like radiation and for those in a white dwarf's habitable zone to facilitate future observations by telescopes like the James Webb Space Telescope and ground-based Extremely Large Telescopes. This work provides a crucial tool for preparing and interpreting observations for signs of life, such as the O2+CH4 and O3+CH4 biosignature pairs, in the atmospheres of planets around these stable, long-lived stars.

Citation:

Kozakis et al 2020 ApJL 894 L6, DOI 10.3847/2041-8213/ab6f6a

Data:

High-resolution Spectra and Biosignatures of Earth-like Planets Transiting White Dwarfs. http://biosignatures.astro.cornell.edu/compressed_spectra_file.zip