Martin J. F. Fowler

This article presents the result of some three years survey and analysis of archaeological landscapes in part of Ukraine using open-source satellite images. More than 7500 archaeological features were identified and geolocated and can be assessed by others using our web application. Principal contents of this report are discussion about habitation sites and mounds. Case studies resulted in a series of maps that may indicate some archaeological potential of interpretation from satellite images.

We present an updated ephemeris, and physical parameters, for the exoplanet WASP-77 A b. In this effort, we combine 64 ground- and space-based transit observations, 6 space-based eclipse observations, and 32 radial velocity observations to produce this target's most precise orbital solution to date aiding in the planning of James Webb Space Telescope and Ariel observations and atmospheric studies. We report a new orbital period of 1.360029395 ± 5.7 × 10⁻⁸ days, a new mid-transit time of 2459957.337860 ± 4.3 × 10⁻⁵ Barycentric Julian Date in the Barycentric Dynamical Timescale (BJDTDB) and a new mid-eclipse time of 2459956.658192 ± 6.7 × 10⁻⁵ BJDTDB. Furthermore, the methods presented in this study reduce the uncertainties in the planet's mass 1.6654 ± 4.5 × 10⁻³ M _Jup and orbital period 1.360029395 ± 5.7 × 10⁻⁸ days by factors of 15.1 and 10.9, respectively. Through a joint fit analysis comparison of transit data taken by space-based and citizen science-led initiatives, our study demonstrates the power of including data collected by citizen scientists compared to a fit of the space-based data alone. Additionally, by including a vast array of citizen science data from ExoClock, Exoplanet Transit Database, and Exoplanet Watch, we can increase our observational baseline and thus acquire better constraints on the forward propagation of our ephemeris than what is achievable with Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite data alone.

Ground-based high-resolution and space-based low-resolution spectroscopy are the two main avenues through which transiting exoplanet atmospheres are studied. Both methods provide unique strengths and shortcomings, and combining the two can be a powerful probe into an exoplanet’s atmosphere. Within a joint atmospheric retrieval framework, we combined JWST NIRSpec/G395H secondary eclipse spectra and Gemini South/IGRINS pre- and post-eclipse thermal emission observations of the hot Jupiter WASP-77A b. Our inferences from the IGRINS and NIRSpec data sets are consistent with each other, and combining the two allows us to measure the gas abundances of H₂O and CO, as well as the vertical thermal structure, with higher precision than either data set provided individually. We confirm WASP-77A b’s subsolar metallicity ([(C+O)/H] = −0.61 − 0.09 + 0.10 ) and solar C/O ratio (C/O = 0.57 − 0.06 + 0.06 ) . The two types of data are complementary, and our abundance inferences are mostly driven by the IGRINS data, while inference of the thermal structure is driven by the NIRSpec data. Our ability to draw inferences from the post-eclipse IGRINS data is highly sensitive to the number of singular values removed in the detrending process, potentially due to high and variable humidity. We also search for signatures for atmospheric dynamics in the IGRINS data and find that propagated ephemeris error can manifest as either an orbital eccentricity or a strong equatorial jet. Neither are detected when using more up-to-date ephemerides. However, we find moderate evidence of thermal inhomogeneity and measure a cooler nightside that presents itself in the later phases after secondary eclipse.

In the article, methods and use of open-source images to undertake an archaeological landscape survey of part of Ukraine are described. A selection of results — feature types and their placement in the landscape — from the first year of our survey is outlined and discussed. Our results can be assessed and manipulated using an interactive ArcGIS web app.

In January 2023, an unusual ice formation was captured on a series of photographs taken by a trail camera set up to observe wildlife in a garden in the village of South Wonston, Hampshire, UK. The feature had formed spontaneously on the surface of a frozen water bowl and appears to have formed by atmospheric icing rather than by freezing drip water. The observation represents another example of the impact of serendipity in science, whereby interesting or valuable things are found by chance.

Forty years after they were originally acquired for intelligence purposes, declassified US photographs from the KH-7 GAMBIT photo reconnaissance satellite programme, together with contemporary declassified intelligence reports, are being used to shed light on Cold War sites in the former Soviet Union. The method should have a great future for understanding the changes to the landscape in Europe over the last 60 years. The material impact of the Cold War was no less fundamental than other wars hotter in nature.

In contrast to modern satellite images, information regarding the time of acquisition of declassified CORONA satellites is not readily available and requires access to hard-copy frame ephemeris data held by the US National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). In this article, the accuracy of a method described previously (Fowler 2006 Fowler, M.J.F. 2006. Modelling the acquisition times of CORONA KH-4B satellite photographs. Aerial Archaeology Research Group News (AARGnews), 33: 34–40. [Google Scholar] ) for estimating the acquisition times of CORONA photographs using freely available historical Two Line Element orbital ephemeris data together with a commercial off-the-shelf modelling package for satellite operations has been investigated. The Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) between the modelled and documented acquisition times for a sample of 21 frames acquired by four CORONA KH-4B missions was determined to be of the order of 20.3 s and indicates that the approach can be used to estimate the acquisition times of CORONA satellite photographs to a relatively high degree of accuracy. From this, the solar azimuth and elevation for particular locations covered by the photographs can be readily determined. An example of the application of the technique is given for the case of two CORONA photographs of the landscape around the Roman siege-works at the fortress at Masada, Israel, and where knowledge of the solar lighting conditions at the time of acquisition enables the appearance of the archaeological features in their landscape setting to be appreciated. Being quick and low cost, this modelling approach has a broader utility for studies where knowledge of the acquisition times of CORONA satellite photographs is required.

Objective: To describe a multigenerational kindred with a frontotemporal dementia clinical syndrome (FTDS), extensive subcortical gliosis pathology, and autosomal dominant genetics.

Recently declassified intelligence satellite photographs acquired in the 1960s and early 1970s by the CORONA programme have been found to be an important source of low‐cost, relatively high resolution, overhead photography that can be used in the prospection for archaeological features. Hitherto, the material has been used primarily to detect archaeological features in the arid regions of Asia Minor and the Middle East either in relief or through changes in soil tone resulting from the presence of former human habitation. In this paper the authors describe, for the first time, the detection of archaeological crop marks on CORONA KH‐4B photography of southern England indicating that there could be a wider utility of the CORONA archive for archaeological prospection in temperate regions. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.