Using Deep Space Climate Observatory Measurements to Study the Earth as an Exoplanet
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Date
2018-06-27
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Citation of Original Publication
Jiang , Jonathan H., et al. “Using Deep Space Climate Observatory Measurements to Study the Earth as an Exoplanet” The Astronomical Journal 156, no.26 (27 June, 2018). https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/aac6e2 .
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Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
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Abstract
Even though it was not designed as an exoplanetary research mission, the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR)
has been opportunistically used for a novel experiment in which Earth serves as a proxy exoplanet. More than 2 yr of
DSCOVR Earth images were employed to produce time series of multiwavelength, single-point light sources in order to
extract information on planetary rotation, cloud patterns, surface type, and orbit around the Sun. In what follows, we
assume that these properties of the Earth are unknown and instead attempt to derive them from first principles. These
conclusions are then compared with known data about our planet. We also used the DSCOVR data to simulate phaseangle changes, as well as the minimum data collection rate needed to determine the rotation period of an exoplanet. This
innovative method of using the time evolution of a multiwavelength, reflected single-point light source can be deployed
for retrieving a range of intrinsic properties of an exoplanet around a distant star.