Caprice Phillips, an Astronomy PhD candidate at The Ohio State University and Twinkle science team member led a recent study, analysing the ability of Twinkle to study nearby terrestrial-like planet LTT 1445 Ab. Caprice and her co-authors explore the possibility of detecting ammonia (NH3), a potential biosignature, in the atmosphere of LTT 1445 Ab.
Twinkle, expected to launch in 2025, will observe thousands of targets including exoplanets, stars, protoplanetary disks, asteroids and planets beyond Earth in the Solar System. LTT 1445 Ab, the second closest known transiting system to Earth, will be observed through transmission spectroscopy by Twinkle.