Atmospheric characterization of cold exoplanets with a 1.5-m space coronagraph
Name
Atmospheric characterization of cold exoplanets with a 1.5-m space coronagraph.pdf
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Author(s)
Maire, A. -L.
Galicher, R.
Boccaletti, A.
Baudoz, P.
Schneider, J.
Cahoy, K.
Stam, D.
Traub, W.
Date Issued
2012
Publisher
Amsterdam Netherlands: SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
Citation
Maire, A., Galicher, R., Boccaletti, A., Baudoz, P., Schneider, J., Cahoy, K., & ... Traub, W. (2012). Atmospheric characterization of cold exoplanets with a 1.5-m space coronagraph. Proceedings Of The SPIE - The International Society For Optical Engineering, 8442(12 pp.). doi:10.1117/12.925563
Abstract
Several small space coronagraphs have been proposed to characterize cold exoplanets in reflected light. Studies have mainly focused on technical feasibility because of the huge star/planet flux ratio to achieve in the close-in stellar environment (108-1010 at 0.2'). However, the main interest of such instruments, the analysis of planet properties, has remained highly unexplored so far. We performed numerical simulations to assess the ability of a small space coronagraph to retrieve spectra of mature Jupiters, Neptunes and super-Earths under realistic assumptions. We describe our assumptions: exoplanetary atmosphere models, instrument numerical simulation and observing conditions. Then, we define a criterion and use it to determine the required exposure times to measure several planet parameters from their spectra (separation, metallicity, cloud and surface coverages) for particular cases. Finally, we attempt to define a parameter space of the potential targets. In the case of a solar-type star, we show that a small coronagraph can characterize the spectral properties of a 2-AU Jupiter up to 10 pc and the cloud and surface coverage of super-Earths in the habitable zone for a few stars within 4-5 pc. Potentially, SPICES could perform analysis of a hypothetical Earth-size planet around α Cen A and B.
Subjects
atmospheric characterization
cold exoplanet
small space coronagraph
light reflection
star-planet flux ratio
close-in stellar environment
planet property analysis
spectra retrieval
mature Jupiters
Neptunes
super-Earths
exoplanetary atmosphere model
instrument numerical simulation
observing condition
exposure time
planet parameter
metallicity
cloud
surface coverage
solar-type star
spectral property
habitable zone
SPICES
Earth-size planet
α Cen A
a Cen B
MIT Department
Space Telecommunications Astronomy and Radiation (STAR) Lab
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Persistent DSpace Link
