Using SPICA Space Telescope to characterize Exoplanets

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dc.creatorGoicoechea, J. R.
dc.creatorSwinyard, B.
dc.creatorTinetti, G.
dc.creatorNakagawa, T.
dc.creatorEnya, K.
dc.creatorTamura, M.
dc.creatorFerlet, M.
dc.creatorIsaak, K. G.
dc.creatorWyatt, M.
dc.creatorAylward, A. D.
dc.creatorBarlow, M.
dc.creatorBeaulieu, J. P.
dc.creatorBoccaletti, A.
dc.creatorCernicharo, J.
dc.creatorCho, J.
dc.creatorClaudi, R.
dc.creatorJones, H.
dc.creatorLammer, H.
dc.creatorLeger, A.
dc.creatorMartín-Pintado, J.
dc.creatorMiller, S.
dc.creatorNajarro, F.
dc.creatorPinfield, D.
dc.creatorSchneider, J.
dc.creatorSelsis, F.
dc.creatorStam, D. M.
dc.creatorTennyson, J.
dc.creatorViti, S.
dc.creatorWhite, G.
dc.date2008-09-01
dc.date2008-09-15
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T10:02:28Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T10:02:28Z
dc.descriptionWe present the 3.5m SPICA space telescope, a proposed Japanese-led JAXA-ESA mission scheduled for launch around 2017. The actively cooled (<5 K), single aperture telescope and monolithic mirror will operate from ~3.5 to ~210 um and will provide superb sensitivity in the mid- and far-IR spectral domain (better than JWST at lambda > 18 um). SPICA is one of the few space missions selected to go to the next stage of ESA's Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 selection process. In this White Paper we present the main specifications of the three instruments currently baselined for SPICA: a mid-infrared (MIR) coronagraph (~3.5 to ~27 um) with photometric and spectral capabilities (R~200), a MIR wide-field camera and high resolution spectrometer (R~30,000), and a far-infrared (FIR ~30 to ~210 um) imaging spectrometer - SAFARI - led by a European consortium. We discuss their capabilities in the context of MIR direct observations of exo-planets (EPs) and multiband photometry/high resolution spectroscopy observations of transiting exo-planets. We conclude that SPICA will be able to characterize the atmospheres of transiting exo-planets down to the super-Earth size previously detected by ground- or space-based observatories. It will also directly detect and characterize Jupiter/Neptune-size planets orbiting at larger separation from their parent star (>5-10 AU), by performing quantitative atmospheric spectroscopy and studying proto-planetary and debris disks. In addition, SPICA will be a scientific and technological precursor for future, more ambitious, IR space missions for exo-planet direct detection as it will, for example, quantify the prevalence exo-zodiacal clouds in planetary systems and test coronographic techniques, cryogenic systems and lightweight, high quality telescopes. (abridged)
dc.descriptionA White Paper for ESA's Exo-Planet Roadmap Advisory Team, submitted on 2008 July 29
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/0809.0242
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/0809.0242
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/168985
dc.subjectAstrophysics
dc.titleUsing SPICA Space Telescope to characterize Exoplanets
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