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Register a new userCharacterising the Atmospheres of Transiting Planets with a Dedicated Space Telescope
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Exoplanetary science is among the fastest evolving fields of todays astronomical research. Ground-based planet-hunting surveys alongside dedicated space missions (Kepler, CoRoT) are delivering an ever-increasing number of exoplanets, now numbering at ~690, with ESAs GAIA mission planned to bring this number into the thousands. The next logical step is the characterisation of these worlds: what is their nature? Why are they as they are? The use of the HST and Spitzer Space Telescope to probe the atmospheres of transiting hot, gaseous exoplanets has demonstrated that it is possible with current technology to address this ambitious goal. The measurements have also shown the difficulty of understanding the physics and chemistry of these environments when having to rely on a limited number of observations performed on a handful of objects. To progress substantially in this field, a dedicated facility for exoplanet characterization with an optimised instrument design (detector performance, photometric stability, etc.), able to observe through time and over a broad spectral range a statistically significant number of planets, will be essential. We analyse the performances of a 1.2/1.4m space telescope for exoplanet transit spectroscopy from the visible to the mid IR, and present the SNR ratio as function of integration time and stellar magnitude/spectral type for the acquisition of spectra of planetary atmospheres in a variety of scenarios: hot, warm, and temperate planets, orbiting stars ranging in spectral type from hot F to cool M dwarfs. We include key examples of known planets (e.g. HD 189733b, Cancri 55 e) and simulations of plausible terrestrial and gaseous planets, with a variety of thermodynamical conditions. We conclude that even most challenging targets, such as super-Earths in the habitable-zone of late-type stars, are within reach of a M-class, space-based spectroscopy mission.
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The National Academy Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Science (CAPS) made a recommendation to study a large/medium-class dedicated space telescope for planetary science, going beyond the Discovery-class dedicated planetary space telescope endorsed in Visions and Voyages. Such a telescope would observe targets across the entire solar system, engaging a broad spectrum of the science community. It would ensure that the high-resolution, high-sensitivity observations of the solar system in visible and UV wavelengths revolutionized by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) could be extended. A dedicated telescope for solar system science would: (a) transform our understanding of time-dependent phenomena in our solar system that cannot be studied currently under programs to observe and visit new targets and (b) enable a comprehensive survey and spectral characterization of minor bodies across the solar system, which requires a large time allocation not supported by existing facilities. The time-domain phenomena to be explored are critically reliant on high spatial resolution UV-visible observations. This paper presents science themes and key questions that require a long-lasting space telescope dedicated to planetary science that can capture high-quality, consistent data at the required cadences that are free from effects of the terrestrial atmosphere and differences across observing facilities. Such a telescope would have excellent synergy with astrophysical facilities by placing planetary discoveries made by astrophysics assets in temporal context, as well as triggering detailed follow-up observations using larger telescopes. The telescope would support future missions to the Ice Giants, Ocean Worlds, and minor bodies across the solar system by placing the results of such targeted missions in the context of longer records of temporal activities and larger sample populations.
Alpha Centauri A is the closest solar-type star to the Sun and offers an excellent opportunity to detect the thermal emission of a mature planet heated by its host star. The MIRI coronagraph on JWST can search the 1-3 AU (1-2) region around alpha Cen A which is predicted to be stable within the alpha Cen AB system. We demonstrate that with reasonable performance of the telescope and instrument, a 20 hr program combining on-target and reference star observations at 15.5 um could detect thermal emission from planets as small as ~5 RE. Multiple visits every 3-6 months would increase the geometrical completeness, provide astrometric confirmation of detected sources, and push the radius limit down to ~3 RE. An exozodiacal cloud only a few times brighter than our own should also be detectable, although a sufficiently bright cloud might obscure any planet present in the system. While current precision radial velocity (PRV) observations set a limit of 50-100 ME at 1-3 AU for planets orbiting alpha Cen A, there is a broad range of exoplanet radii up to 10 RE consistent with these mass limits. A carefully planned observing sequence along with state-of-the-art post-processing analysis could reject the light from alpha Cen A at the level of ~10^-5 at 1-2 and minimize the influence of alpha Cen B located 7-8 away in the 2022-2023 timeframe. These space-based observations would complement on-going imaging experiments at shorter wavelengths as well as PRV and astrometric experiments to detect planets dynamically. Planetary demographics suggest that the likelihood of directly imaging a planet whose mass and orbit are consistent with present PRV limits is small, ~5%, and possibly lower if the presence of a binary companion further reduces occurrence rates. However, at a distance of just 1.34 pc, alpha Cen A is our closest sibling star and certainly merits close scrutiny.
A number of transiting, potentially habitable Earth-sized exoplanets have recently been detected around several nearby M dwarf stars. These worlds represent important targets for atmospheric characterization for the upcoming NASA James Webb Space Telescope. Given that available time for exoplanet characterization will be limited, it is critically important to first understand the capabilities and limitations of JWST when attempting to detect atmospheric constituents for potentially Earth-like worlds orbiting cool stars. Here, we explore coupled climate-chemistry atmospheric models for Earth-like planets orbiting a grid of M dwarf hosts. Using a newly-developed and validated JWST instrument model - the JWST Exoplanet Transit Simulator (JETS) - we investigate the detectability of key biosignature and habitability indicator gaseous species for a variety of relevant instruments and observing modes. Spectrally-resolved detection scenarios as well as cases where the spectral impact of a given species is integrated across the entire range of an instrument/mode are considered and serve to highlight the importance of considering information gained over an entire observable spectral range. When considering the entire spectral coverage of an instrument/mode, detections of methane, carbon dioxide, oxygen and water at signal-to-noise ratio 5 could be achieved with observations of several tens of transits (or less) for cloud-free Earth-like worlds orbiting mid- to late-type M dwarfs at system distances of up to 10-15 pc. When compared to previous results, requisite exposure times for gas species detection depend on approaches to quantifying the spectral impact of the species as well as underlying photochemical model assumptions. Thus, constraints on atmospheric abundances, even if just upper limits, by JWST have the potential to further our understanding of terrestrial atmospheric chemistry.
We present a modular framework, the Workload Characterisation Framework (WCF), that is developed to reproducibly obtain, store and compare key characteristics of radio astronomy processing software. As a demonstration, we discuss the experiences using the framework to characterise a LOFAR calibration and imaging pipeline.
We report a development of a multi-color simultaneous camera for the 188cm telescope at Okayama Astrophysical Observatory in Japan. The instrument, named MuSCAT, has a capability of 3-color simultaneous imaging in optical wavelength where CCDs are sensitive. MuSCAT is equipped with three 1024x1024 pixel CCDs, which can be controlled independently. The three CCDs detect lights in $g_2$ (400--550 nm), $r_2$ (550--700 nm), and $z_{s,2}$ (820--920 nm) bands using Astrodon Photometrics Generation 2 Sloan filters. The field of view of MuSCAT is 6.1x6.1 arcmin$^2$ with the pixel scale of 0.358 arcsec per pixel. The principal purpose of MuSCAT is to perform high precision multi-color transit photometry. For the purpose, MuSCAT has a capability of self autoguiding which enables to fix positions of stellar images within ~1 pix. We demonstrate relative photometric precisions of 0.101%, 0.074%, and 0.076% in $g_2$, $r_2$, and $z_{s,2}$ bands, respectively, for GJ436 (magnitudes in $g$=11.81, $r$=10.08, and $z$=8.66) with 30 s exposures. The achieved precisions meet our objective, and the instrument is ready for operation.
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