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A forthcoming NASA endeavor will probe extrasolar planets near remote stars. (Image credit: European Space Agency, CC BY-SA)ShareShare by:
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On Jan. 11, 2026, I observed with anticipation at the carefully monitored Vandenberg Space Force Base in California as an impressive SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket transported NASA’s fresh exoplanet observatory, Pandora, into its designated orbit.
Exoplanets constitute celestial bodies that circle around distant stars. Spotting them is extremely complex because, viewed from our planet, they manifest as exceptionally faint points adjacent to their central stars, which radiate millions to billions of times more intensely, thereby obscuring the planets’ reflective glow. The Pandora telescope will unite with and enhance the capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope from NASA to scrutinize these distant worlds alongside the stars they revolve around.
I serve as an astronomy lecturer at the University of Arizona, focusing my research on planets beyond our solar system and the realm of astrobiology. I hold the position of co-investigator for Pandora and spearhead its exoplanet research consortium. We engineered Pandora to eliminate an impediment — to decipher and negate a disturbance within the datasets — that constrains our capacity to thoroughly analyze minor exoplanets and seek out indications of biological life upon them.
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Observing exoplanets
Astronomers employ a specific method for examining the atmospheres of exoplanets. By observing the celestial bodies as they traverse in front of their parent stars, we gain the ability to scrutinize the starlight that permeates their atmospheric layers.
These planetary transit analyses bear a resemblance to holding a goblet of crimson wine aloft before a light source: The light filtering through will reveal detailed aspects that signify the wine’s attributes. Via the examination of starlight passing through planetary atmospheres, astronomers have the potential to discover indications of water vapor, hydrogen, cloud formations, and even to identify indications of existence. Investigators refined transit observations around 2002, unveiling an enthralling gateway to uncharted territories.
Detecting exoplanets with the transit method – YouTube
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For some time, it presented optimal functionality. Nevertheless, from approximately 2007, astronomers began to observe that solar blemishes – more subdued, energetic domains on stars – had the potential to skew transit measurements.
Across 2018 and 2019, alongside then-doctoral candidate Benjamin V. Rackham and astrophysicist Mark Giampapa, I disseminated several investigations detailing how darker solar blemishes alongside brighter, magnetically active regions on stars could severely misrepresent exoplanetary assessments. We designated this obstacle as “the transit light source effect.”
The majority of stars exhibit blemishes, are dynamic, and undergo continuous shifts. Ben, Mark, and I elucidated that these fluctuations alter the signals emitted by exoplanets. To compound the problem, certain stars also harbor water vapor within their superior strata – oftentimes more concentrated in solar blemishes than elsewhere. This, along with further gaseous elements, can confound astronomers, inducing a false assumption of water vapor detection on the planet.
Within our publications – released three years prior to the James Webb Space Telescope’s launch in 2021 – we forecast the impossibility of Webb realizing its total capabilities. We initiated a warning. Astronomers came to the realization that we sought to assess our wine under erratic, unstable illuminations.
Members of the Pandora SmallSat team alongside the finalized satellite within Blue Canyon Technologies’ sterile chamber situated in Boulder, Colorado, preceding Pandora’s dispatch to California for assimilation into the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The inception of Pandora
For me, Pandora originated with an intriguing electronic message from NASA during 2018. Two distinguished researchers emanating from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Elisa Quintana and Tom Barclay, solicited a discussion. They harbored a distinctive proposition: To construct a spatial telescope expeditiously, purposed to manage stellar contamination – concurrently aiding Webb. This concept sparked excitement, albeit with considerable complexity. Spatial telescopes embody intricate designs and typically dissuade immediate assembly.
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Artist’s depiction of NASA’s Pandora Space Telescope.
Pandora departs from the established NASA methodology. We suggested and materialized Pandora with more haste and considerably lessened expenses relative to the prevailing NASA standards. Our tactic centered on streamlining the mission and taking on somewhat amplified uncertainties.
What makes Pandora special?
Pandora exhibits smaller dimensions, implying a reduced capability to collect irradiance as compared to its elder counterpart, Webb. Yet Pandora will undertake tasks beyond Webb’s capacities: Employing consistent monitoring of stars to discern variations in their intricate atmospheric composition.
By concentrating on a specific star over a duration of 24 hours utilizing visible light and infrared spectrum cameras, it will gauge minuscule deviations regarding brightness and chromaticity. As dynamic areas on the star transition into and beyond observable range, coupled with the genesis, metamorphosis, and disintegration of solar blemishes, Pandora will record these occurrences. Although Webb infrequently reverts to monitoring the same planet within the same instrumental configuration, and rarely supervises their host stars, Pandora will routinely observe its selected stars 10 times during a year, allocating beyond 200 hours to each.
Leveraging such information, our Pandora unit will possess the capacity to deduce the influences exerted by variations in the stars on the observed planetary transits. Analogous to Webb, Pandora will also monitor the planetary transit phenomena. By conjoining information gathered via Pandora and Webb, our collaborative effort will enable a superior comprehension of the compositional makeup of exoplanet atmospheres than previously achievable.
Following the successful deployment, Pandora currently orbits our planet every 90 minutes, approximately. Currently, Blue Canyon Technologies, the principal constructor for Pandora, is subjecting the systems and capabilities of Pandora to extensive verification procedures.
About one week following commencement, stewardship of the spacecraft operations will transition to the Multi-Mission Operation Center managed by the University of Arizona, situated in Tucson, Arizona. Post this transition, the scientific teams will actively partake in their work and initiate the acquisition of starlight intercepted by exoplanetary atmospheres, observing them with heightened stability.
Daniel ApaiUniversity of ArizonaShow More Comments
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