Analysis of exoplanet light curves with the New Worlds Observer

Oakley, Phil; Cash, Webster; Turnbull, Margaret

doi:10.1117/12.789810

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

References 13 publications

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“…We can make rough measurements of atmospheric density from Raleigh scattering. Photometric monitoring could reveal surface variations for planets with relatively transparent atmospheres [7]. A high-resolution spectrometer might be used to capture a detailed spectrum of a particularly interesting planet.…”

Section: Key Science Goalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The New Worlds Observer: the astrophysics strategic mission concept study

Cash

Kendrick²,

Noecker³

et al. 2009

SPIE Proceedings

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Abstract. We present some results of the Astrophysics Strategic Mission Concept Study for the New Worlds Observer (NWO). We show that the use of starshades is the most effective and affordable path to mapping and understanding our neighboring planetary systems, to opening the search for life outside our solar system, while serving the needs of the greater astronomy community. A starshade-based mission can be implemented immediately with a near term program of technology demonstration. THE MISSIONThe New Worlds Observer (NWO) is a mission concept for direct observation and study of exoplanets all the way down to Earth-like objects. Its goal is very simple: map the planetary systems of the nearby stars, search for habitable planets, and look for signs of life. An Astrophysics Strategic Mission Concept Study (ASMCS) has just been completed, and this paper summarizes some of the results of that study [1]. The many people of the New Worlds study team who contributed to this study and thus to this paper are listed in Table 1, along with an indicator of their roles.Is Earth a unique outpost of life in a vast and empty Universe? How did planets come into being and why are they in their current state? What are the circumstances under which life arises, and how common is it? NASA can definitively address these questions in the coming decade with the New Worlds Observer (NWO).Hundreds of giant exoplanets have now been detected and improvements in technology are moving the detection limits to smaller and smaller masses. NWO can discover Earth-like planets, but detecting their existence is just the beginning: only spectroscopy of planets in the habitable zones of dozens of stars can answer the question of how common life is in the Universe. A facility capable of finding and characterizing terrestrial planets requires that the starlight be suppressed by a factor of at least 10 10 to enable the planet's light to be seen against the light of its host sun. This suppression needs to be confined within tens of milliarcseconds (mas) so that the planet's light is not blocked. Direct imaging with NWO will reveal most of the planets in an extrasolar system in just a single exposure. Through spectroscopy, we can determine the nature of each planet discovered.The NWO mission concept (Fig. 1) can do all of this and more. Full suppression of the starlight before it enters the aperture relieves the telescope of demanding requirements such as ultra-high quality wave front correction and stray light control. The NWO telescope requires only diffraction-limited wavefront quality. This design results in a clean separation of light suppression and light collection. The starshade is a passive mechanical structure that only has centimeter-level requirements on the edge, but not over the surface. Integrated development of NWO could start today.The NWO mission is illustrated in Figure 2. Two launch vehicles take the 50 m starshade and the 4 m telescope to L2, where they enter a halo orbit. The two spacecraft are separated by ∼80,000 km. This is an O...

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Section: Key Science Goalsmentioning

confidence: 99%