Related papers: Space Technology for Directly Imaging and Characte…
The World Space Observatory for Ultraviolet (WSO-UV) is an orbital optical telescope with a 1.7 m-diameter primary mirror currently under development. The WSO-UV is aimed to operate in the 115-310 nm UV spectral range. Its two major science…
Extra-solar planets have not been imaged directly with existing ground or space telescopes because they are too faint to be seen against the halo of the nearby bright star. Most techniques being explored to suppress the halo are achromatic,…
The search for life beyond the solar system is a central goal in exoplanetary science. Exoplanet surveys are increasingly detecting potentially habitable exoplanets and large telescopes in space and on ground are aiming to detect possible…
Direct imaging of extrasolar planets with future space-based coronagraphic telescopes may provide a means of detecting companion moons at wavelengths where the moon outshines the planet. We propose a detection strategy based on the…
Directly imaging Earth-like exoplanets within habitable zones is challenging because faint signals can be obscured by exozodiacal dust, analogous to our solar system's zodiacal dust. This dust scatters starlight, creating a bright…
Seeing oceans, continents, quasi-static weather, and other surface features on exoplanets may allow us to detect and characterize life outside the solar system. The Proxima b planet resides within the stellar habitable zone allowing for…
We propose a new parametrization of the impact parameter u0 and impact angle {\alpha} for microlensing systems composed by an Earth-like Exoplanet around a Solar mass Star at 1 AU. We present the caustic topology of such system, as well as…
The strongest remotely detectable signature of life on our planet today is the photosynthetically produced oxygen (O2) in our atmosphere. However, recent studies of Earth's geochemical proxy record suggest that for all but the last ~500…
Direct imaging and spectral characterization of exoplanets using extreme adaptive optics (ExAO) is a key science goal of future extremely large telescopes and space observatories. However, quasi-static wavefront errors will limit the…
High-contrast imaging enabled by a starshade in formation flight with a space telescope can provide a near-term pathway to search for and characterize temperate and small planets of nearby stars. NASA's Starshade Technology Development…
The expected yield of potentially Earth-like planets is a useful metric for designing future exoplanet-imaging missions. Recent yield studies of direct-imaging missions have focused primarily on yield methods and trade studies using "toy"…
Our understanding of extra-solar planet systems is highly driven by advances in observations in the past decade. Thanks to high precision spectrograph, we are able to reveal unseen companions to stars with the radial velocity method. High…
The search for extrasolar planets has already detected rocky planets and several planetary candidates with minimum masses that are consistent with rocky planets in the habitable zone of their host stars. A low-resolution spectrum in the…
With the upcoming launch of space telescopes dedicated to the study of exoplanets, the \textit{Atmospheric Remote-Sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey} (ARIEL) and the \textit{James Webb Space Telescope} (JWST), a new era is opening in…
This is a scientific strategy for the detection and characterization of extrasolar planets; that is, planets orbiting other stars. As such, it maps out over a 15-year horizon the techniques and capabilities required to detect and measure…
Transmission spectra probe the atmospheres of transiting exoplanets, but these observations are also subject to signals introduced by magnetic active regions on host stars. Here we outline scientific opportunities in the next decade for…
Determining wavelength-dependent exoplanet radii measurements is an excellent way to probe the composition of exoplanet atmospheres. In light of this, Borsa et al. (2016) sought to develop a technique to obtain such measurements by…
We examine the scientific viability of an imaging mission to find exo-Earths combining the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) with a starshade external occulter under a realistic set of astrophysical assumptions. We define an exo-Earth as a…
High-contrast imaging observations of large angular diameter stars enable complementary science questions to be addressed compared to the baseline goals of proposed missions like the Terrestrial Planet Finder-Coronagraph, New World's…
A habitable exoplanet is a world that can maintain stable liquid water on its surface. Techniques and approaches to characterizing such worlds are essential, as performing a census of Earth-like planets that may or may not have life will…