paper

Towards a Small Prototype Planet Finding Interferometer: The next step in planet finding and characterization in the infrared

arXiv:0801.4752

Abstract

During the last few years, considerable effort has been directed towards large-scale (>> $1 B i l l i o n U S) mi ss i o n s t o d e t ec t an d c ha r a c t er i z ee a r t h - l ik e pl an e t s a r o u n d n e a r b y s t a r s, s u c ha s t h e T er r es t r ia l P l an e tF in d er I n t er f er o m e t er (T P F - I) an d D a r w inmi ss i o n s . H o w e v er, t ec hn o l o g i c a l an d b u d g e t a r y i ss u es a s w e l l a ss hi f t in g sc i e n ce p r i or i t i es w i l l l ik e l y p r e v e n tt h ese mi ss i o n s f r o m e n t er in g P ha se A u n t i l t h e n e x t d ec a d e . T h eseco n d a r y ec l i p se t ec hni q u e u s in g t h e S p i t z er S p a ce T e l esco p e ha s b ee n u se d t o d i r ec tl y m e a s u r e t h e t e m p er a t u r e an d e mi ss i o n s p ec t r u m o f e x t r a so l a r pl an e t s . H o w e v er, o n l y a s ma l l f r a c t i o n o f k n o w n e x t r a so l a r pl an e t s a r e in t r an s i t in g or bi t s . T h u s, a s im pl i f i e d n u l l in g in t er f er o m e t er, w hi c h p r o d u ces ana r t i f i c ia l ec l i p seor occ u l t a t i o n, an d o p er a t es in t h e n e a r - t o mi d - in f r a r e d (e . g . 3 t o 8 or 10 mi cr o n s), c an c ha r a c t er i z e t h e a t m os p h er eso f t hi s m u c h l a r g er s am pl eo f t h e k n o w nb u t n o n - t r an s i t in g e x o pl an e t s . M an y o t h er sc i e n t i f i c p r o b l e m sc anb e a dd r esse d w i t ha sy s t e m l ik e t hi s, in c l u d in g ima g in g d e b r i s d i s k s, a c t i v e g a l a c t i c n u c l e i, an d l o w ma ssco m p ani o n s a r o u n d n e a r b y s t a r s . W e d i sc u ss t h er a t i o na l e f or a p r o b e - sc a l e mi ss i o nin t h e$ 600-800 Million range, which we name here as the Small Prototype Planet Finding Interferometer (SPPFI).

8 pages, 4 figures, white paper for Exoplanet Task Force, March 2007