Space-based infrared interferometry to study exoplanetary atmospheres
Journal article, 2018
The quest for other habitable worlds and the search for life among them are major goals of modern astronomy. One way to make progress towards these goals is to obtain high-quality spectra of a large number of exoplanets over a broad range of wavelengths. While concepts currently investigated in the United States are focused on visible/NIR wavelengths, where the planets are probed in reflected light, a compelling alternative to characterize planetary atmospheres is the mid-infrared waveband (5–20 μm). Indeed, mid-infrared observations provide key information on the presence of an atmosphere, the surface conditions (e.g., temperature, pressure, habitability), and the atmospheric composition in important species such as H2O, CO2, O3, CH4, and N2O. This information is essential to investigate the potential habitability of exoplanets and to make progress towards the search for life in the Universe. Obtaining high-quality mid-infrared spectra of exoplanets from the ground is however extremely challenging due to the overwhelming brightness and turbulence of the Earth’s atmosphere. In this paper, we present a concept of space-based mid-infrared interferometer that can tackle this observing challenge and discuss the main technological developments required to launch such a sophisticated instrument.
Space interferometer
Infrared astronomy
Exoplanet
TPF-I
Bio-signatures
Darwin
Habitability
Author
D. Defrere
University of Liège
A. Léger
University of Paris-Sud
O. Absil
University of Liège
C. Beichman
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
B. Biller
University of Edinburgh
W. Danchi
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
K. Ergenzinger
Airbus Group
C. Eiroa
Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (UAM)
S. Ertel
University of Arizona
Malcolm Fridlund
Leiden University
Antonio García Muñoz
Technische Universität Berlin
Michaël Gillon
University of Liège
A. Glasse
UK Astronomy Technology Centre
M. Godolt
Technische Universität Berlin
J. L. Grenfell
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
S. Kraus
University of Exeter
L. Labadie
University of Cologne
S. Lacour
LESIA - Laboratoire d'Etudes Spatiales et d'Instrumentation en Astrophysique
René Liseau
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Astronomy and Plasmaphysics
G. Martin
Institut de Planetologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble
B. Mennesson
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
G. Micela
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
S. Minardi
Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam
S. P. Quanz
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich (ETH)
H. Rauer
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Technische Universität Berlin
S. Rinehart
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
N. C. Santos
University of Porto
F. Selsis
University of Bordeaux
J. Surdej
University of Liège
F. Tian
Tsinghua University
E. Villaver
Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (UAM)
P. J. Wheatley
The University of Warwick
M. Wyatt
University of Cambridge
Experimental Astronomy
0922-6435 (ISSN) 1572-9508 (eISSN)
Vol. 46 3 543-560Subject Categories
Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology
Interaction Technologies
Infrastructure
Onsala Space Observatory
DOI
10.1007/s10686-018-9613-2