Colloquium on Nov. 21, 2025

Mauve: A UV-Visible spectrophotometry satellite

Speaker: Richard Archer and Parul Janagal (Blue Skies Space)

Venue: SWIFAR Building 2111

Time: 15:00 PM, Friday, Nov. 21, 2025

Abstract:

Blue Skies Space is a space science data company which has developed an innovative model for science satellites, leveraging recent advancements in space technology and the rapidly evolving global scientific landscape, enabling drastically reduced satellite development timescales and costs. Our vision is to accelerate and expand the availability of new datasets to researchers worldwide, complementing the facilities delivered by space agencies. Our first satellite, Mauve, is designed to monitor the flaring activity of stars, including those that are hosts to potentially habitable exoplanets. Mauve’s data will help scientists understand the impact of powerful stellar flares on their atmospheres. The satellite, launching in November 2025, is equipped with a 13-cm telescope and a UV spectrophotometric instrument with a wavelength coverage from 200 to 700 nm. Dedicated to time-domain astronomy, Mauve will provide excellent datasets to study stellar variability over long baseline observations. Twinkle, our flagship mission, features an infrared spectrometer to study extrasolar objects and solar system bodies with a 45 cm telescope in the visible and infrared wavelengths (0.5- 4.5µm). Twinkle will deliver spectroscopy of thousands of targets, enabling scientists to produce transformative research on exoplanet atmospheres, solar system objects, stars and stellar discs.