Atmospheric characterization of cold exoplanets using a 1.5-m coronagraphic space telescope

Abstract

Context. High-contrast imaging is currently the only available technique for the study of the thermodynamical and compositional properties of exoplanets in long-period orbits. The SPICES project is a coronagraphic space telescope dedicated to the spectro-polarimetric analysis of gaseous and icy giant planets as well as super-Earths at visible wavelengths. So far, studies for high-contrast imaging instruments have mainly focused on technical feasibility because of the challenging planet/star flux ratio of 10-8-10-10 required at short separations (200 mas or so) to image cold exoplanets. However, the analysis of planet atmospheric/surface properties has remained largely unexplored. Aims. The aim of this paper is to determine which planetary properties SPICES or an equivalent direct imaging mission can measure, considering realistic reflected planet spectra and instrument limitation. Methods. We use numerical simulations of the SPICES instrument concept and theoretical planet spectra to carry out this performance study. Results. We find that the characterization of the main planetary properties (identification of molecules, effect of metallicity, presence of clouds and type of surfaces) would require a median signal-to-noise ratio of at least 30. In the case of a solar-type star \leq 10 pc, SPICES will be able to study Jupiters and Neptunes up to ~5 and ~2 AU respectively. It would also analyze cloud and surface coverage of super-Earths of radius 2.5 RE at 1 AU. Finally, we determine the potential targets in terms of planet separation, radius and distance for several stellar types. For a Sun analog, we show that SPICES could characterize Jupiters (M \geq 30 ME) as small as 0.5 Jupiter radii at ~2 AU up to 10 pc, and super-Earths at 1-2 AU for the handful of stars that exist within 4-5 pc. Potentially, SPICES could perform analysis of a hypothetical Earth-size planet around alpha Cen A and B.

18 pages, 20 figures, 9 tables, accepted for publication in A&A

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Cited by in corpus (6)

• Photochemistry in Terrestrial Exoplanet Atmospheres III: Photochemistry and Thermochemistry in Thick Atmospheres on Super Earths and Mini Neptunes
• Review of small-angle coronagraphic techniques in the wake of ground-based second-generation adaptive optics systems
• Characterizing Rocky and Gaseous Exoplanets with 2-meter Class Space-based Coronagraphs
• True Masses of Radial-Velocity Exoplanets
• Impact of ηearth on the capabilities of affordable space missions to detect biosignatures on extrasolar planets
• Experimental parametric study of the self-coherent camera