Related papers: Large Interferometer For Exoplanets (LIFE): IV. Id…
Space borne nulling interferometry in the mid-infrared waveband is one of the most promising techniques for characterizing the atmospheres of extra-solar planets orbiting in the habitable zone of their parent star, and possibly discovering…
Temperate terrestrial exoplanets are likely common objects, but their discovery and characterization is very challenging. Concepts for optimized space missions to overcome these challenges are being studied. The LIFE initiative focuses on…
Nulling interferometry has been identified as a competitive technique for the detection of extrasolar planets. The technique consists in combining out-of-phase pairs of telescopes to null effectively the light of a bright star an reveal the…
Nulling interferometry is a technique providing high angular resolution which is the core of the space missions Darwin and the Terrestrail Planet Finder. The first objective is to reach a deep degree of starlight cancelation in the range 6…
While previous studies have shown a strong preference for a future mid-infrared nulling interferometer space mission to detect planets within the HZ around M dwarfs, we here focus on a more conservative approach toward the concept of…
Interferometry provides one of the possible routes to ultra-high angular resolution for X-ray and gamma-ray astronomy. Sub-micro-arc-second angular resolution, necessary to achieve objectives such as imaging the regions around the event…
We present the database of potential targets for the Large Interferometer For Exoplanets (LIFE), a space-based mid-infrared nulling interferometer mission proposed for the Voyage 2050 science program of the European Space Agency (ESA). The…
Understanding exoplanet formation and finding potentially habitable exoplanets is vital to an enhanced understanding of the universe. The use of nulling interferometry to strongly attenuate the central starlight provides the opportunity to…
Detecting the presence of circumstellar dust around nearby solar-type main sequence stars is an important pre-requisite for the design of future life-finding space missions such as ESA's Darwin or NASA's Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF). The…
We propose a new kind of interferometric array that yields images of high dynamic range and large field. The numerous individual apertures in this array form a pattern related to a Fresnel zone plate. This array can be used for…
In this paper, we review the various ways in which an infrared stellar interferometer can be used to perform direct detection of extrasolar planetary systems. We first review the techniques based on classical stellar interferometry, where…
Space interferometry is the inevitable endpoint of high angular resolution astrophysics, and a key technology that can be leveraged to analyse exoplanet formation and atmospheres with exceptional detail. However, the anticipated cost of…
Active comets have been detected in several exoplanetary systems, although so far only indirectly, when the dust or gas in the extended coma has transited in front of the stellar disk. The large optical surface and relatively high…
The requirements on space missions designed to study Terrestrial exoplanets are discussed. We then investigate whether the design of such a mission, specifically the Darwin nulling interferometer, can be carried out in a simplified…
One of the biggest challenges associated with a nulling interferometer-based approach to detecting extra-solar Earth-like planets comes from the extremely stringent requirements of pathlength, polarization and amplitude matching in the…
In this paper are reviewed various designs of advanced, multi-aperture optical systems dedicated to high angular resolution imaging or to the detection of exo-planets by nulling interferometry. A simple Fourier optics formalism applicable…
Nulling interferometry is an astronomical technique that combines equal wavefronts to achieve a deep rejection ratio of an on-axis star, and that could permit to detect Earth-like planets in the mid-infrared band 5 -- 20 microns. Similarly…
We present a framework for the analysis of direct detection planet finding missions using space telescopes. This framework generates simulations of complete missions, with varying populations of planets, to produce ensembles of mission…
Following the recommendations to NASA and ESA, the search for life on exoplanets will be a priority in the next decades. Two direct imaging space mission concepts are being developed: the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) and the Large…
Asgard/NOTT (previously Hi-5) is a European Research Council (ERC)-funded project hosted at KU Leuven and a new visitor instrument for the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI). Its primary goal is to image the snow line region around…