Exoplanet Characterization and the Search for Life
Abstract
Over 300 extrasolar planets (exoplanets) have been detected orbiting nearby stars. We now hope to conduct a census of all planets around nearby stars and to characterize their atmospheres and surfaces with spectroscopy. Rocky planets within their star's habitable zones have the highest priority, as these have the potential to harbor life. Our science goal is to find and characterize all nearby exoplanets; this requires that we measure the mass, orbit, and spectroscopic signature of each one at visible and infrared wavelengths. The techniques for doing this are at hand today. Within the decade we could answer long-standing questions about the evolution and nature of other planetary systems, and we could search for clues as to whether life exists elsewhere in our galactic neighborhood.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.0911.2936,
title = {Exoplanet Characterization and the Search for Life},
author = {J. Kasting and W. Traub and A. Roberge and A. Leger and A. Schwartz and A. Wooten and A. Vosteen and A. Lo and A. Brack and A. Tanner and A. Coustenis and B. Lane and B. Oppenheimer and B. Mennesson and B. Lopez and C. Grillmair and C. Beichman and C. Cockell and C. Hanot and C. McCarthy and C. Stark and C. Marois and C. Aime and D. Angerhausen and D. Montes and D. Wilner and D. Defrere and D. Mourard and D. Lin and E. Kite and E. Chassefiere and F. Malbet and F. Tian and F. Westall and G. Illingworth and G. Vasisht and G. Serabyn and G. Marcy and G. Bryden and G. White and G. Laughlin and G. Torres and H. Hammel and H. Ferguson and H. Shibai and H. Rottgering and J. Surdej and J. Wiseman and J. Ge and J. Bally and J. Krist and J. Monnier and J. Trauger and J. Horner and J. Catanzarite and J. Harrington and J. Nishikawa and K. Stapelfeldt and K. von Braun and K. Biazzo and K. Carpenter and K. Balasubramanian and L. Kaltenegger and M. Postman and M. Spaans and M. Turnbull and M. Levine and M. Burchell and M. Ealey and M. Kuchner and M. Marley and M. Dominik and M. Mountain and M. Kenworthy and M. Muterspaugh and M. Shao and M. Zhao and M. Tamura and N. Kasdin and N. Haghighipour and N. Kiang and N. Elias and N. Woolf and N. Mason and O. Absil and O. Guyon and O. Lay and P. Borde and P. Fouque and P. Kalas and P. Lowrance and P. Plavchan and P. Hinz and P. Kervella and P. Chen and R. Akeson and R. Soummer and R. Waters and R. Barry and R. Kendrick and R. Brown and R. Vanderbei and R. Woodruff and R. Danner and R. Allen and R. Polidan and S. Seager and S. MacPhee and S. Hosseini and S. Metchev and S. Kafka and S. Ridgway and S. Rinehart and S. Unwin and S. Shaklan and T. ten Brummelaar and T. Mazeh and V. Meadows and W. Weiss and W. Danchi and W. Ip and Y. Rabbia},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0911.2936},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
7 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Astro2010 Decadal Review