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SOFIA: On the Pathway toward Habitable Worlds

SOFIA: On the Pathway toward Habitable Worlds. R. D. Gehrz a , D. Angerhausen b , E. E. Becklin c , M. A. Greenhouse d , S. Horner e , A. Krabbe b , M. R. Swain f , and E. T. Young c

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SOFIA: On the Pathway toward Habitable Worlds

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  1. SOFIA: On the Pathway toward Habitable Worlds R. D. Gehrza, D. Angerhausenb, E. E. Becklinc, M. A. Greenhoused, S. Hornere, A. Krabbeb, M. R. Swainf, and E. T. Youngc aDepartment of Astronomy, University of Minnesota, bDeutsches SOFIA Institut (DSI), University of Stuttgart, cUniversities Space Research Association, dNASA Goddard Space Flight Center, eLockheed Martin, fJPL/Caltech http://www.sofia.usra.edu Pathways toward Habitable Planets, Barcelona, Spain, 16 September, 2009

  2. Outline • SOFIA Description and Status Report • SOFIA Performance Specifications • SOFIA Studies of Extrasolar Planetary Systems • Summary and Conclusions Pathways toward Habitable Planets, Barcelona, Spain, 16 September, 2009

  3. SOFIA Program Overview Pathways toward Habitable Planets, Barcelona, Spain, 16 September, 2009

  4. SOFIA Overview • 2.5 m telescope in a modified Boeing 747SP aircraft • Imaging and spectroscopy from 0.3 m to 1.6 mm • Emphasizes the obscured IR (30-300 m) • Operational Altitude • 39,000 to 45,000 feet (12 to 14 km) • Above > 99.8% of obscuring water vapor; Transmission > 80% • Joint Program between the US (80%) and Germany (20%) • First Light in 2010 • 20 year design lifetime –can respond to changing technology • Science Operations: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA • Flight Operations: Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility, Palmdale, CA • Deployments to the Southern Hemisphere and elsewhere • >120 8-10 hour flights per year Pathways toward Habitable Planets, Barcelona, Spain, 16 September, 2009

  5. The Advantages of SOFIA • Above 99.8% of the water vapor • Transmission at 14 km >80% from 1 to 800 µm; emphasis • on the obscured IR regions from 30 to 300 µm • Instrumentation: wide variety, rapidly interchangeable, state-of-the art – SOFIA is a new observatory every few years! • Mobility: anywhere, anytime • Twenty year design lifetime • A near-space observatory that comes home after every flight Pathways toward Habitable Planets, Barcelona, Spain, 16 September, 2009

  6. The SOFIA Observatory open cavity (door not shown) Educators work station pressure bulkhead scientist stations, telescope and instrument control, etc. TELESCOPE scientific instrument Pathways toward Habitable Planets, Barcelona, Spain, 16 September, 2009

  7. Back End of the SOFIA Telescope Pathways toward Habitable Planets, Barcelona, Spain, 16 September, 2009

  8. SOFIA First Generation Spectroscopy FIFI LS The Eight First Generation SOFIA Science Instruments (SIs) Pathways toward Habitable Planets, Barcelona, Spain, 16 September, 2009 8 6/16/2009

  9. Photometric Sensitivity and Angular resolution • SOFIA is diffraction limited beyond 25 µm (θmin ~ λ/10 in arcseconds) and can produce images three times sharper than those made by Spitzer SOFIA is as sensitive as ISO Pathways toward Habitable Planets, Barcelona, Spain, 16 September, 2009

  10. Early General Observer and Instrumentation Development Opportunities Early Basic Science for GOs in 2010 with FORCAST and GREAT Draft call was released in Jan 2009 Final call to be released in December 2009 Longer period (~15 Flights) General Observer (GO) Science: First Call forproposals in late 2010 20 flights per year until full science operations begin in 2014 Next Call for New Instruments in FY 2011 One new instrument or instrument upgrade per year New calls every three years Funding for new instruments is ~$10 M/yr Pathways toward Habitable Planets, Barcelona, Spain, 16 September, 2009

  11. SOFIA Studies of Extrasolar Planetary Systems Pathways toward Habitable Planets, Barcelona, Spain, 16 September, 2009

  12. The Physics and Chemistry of Protoplanetary Disks • High spectral resolution enables • dynamical studies and can • establish where different atomic, • molecular, and solid state species • reside in the disk • small stellar-centric radii are • associated with wide, double- • peaked line profiles; large radii • with narrow line • profiles • Observing many • disks of different • ages will trace the • temporal evolution • of disk dynamics • and chemistry Simulations from N. J. Evans et al. 2009 Pathways toward Habitable Planets, Barcelona, Spain, 16 September, 2009

  13. Transits provide good estimates for the mass, size and density of the planet Transits can reveal the presence of, satellites, and/or planetary rings Spectroscopic observations can reveal the presence and composition of an atmosphere SOFIA and Extra-solar Planet Transits • There are 358 extra-solar planets; more than 59 transit their primary star • SOFIA flies above the scintillating component of the atmosphere where it • can detect transits of planets across bright stars at high signal to noise a) HD 209458b transit: a) artist’s concept and b) HST STIS data b) Pathways toward Habitable Planets, Barcelona, Spain, 16 September, 2009

  14. Using HIPO and FLITECAM for Observations of Exoplanet Transits • HIPO: Fast Imager; operates from 0.3 to 1.1 µm with interference filters, spectral resolution TBD by application • FLITECAM: Imager; operates from 1.0 to 5.5 µm with interference filters and grisms; spectral resolutions as high as R = l/Dl= 2000 • HIPO and FLITECAM can observe simultaneously using a dichroic beam splitter We will also evaluate the FORECAST Imager for doing exoplanet transit observations: operates from 5.6 to 38 µm with interference filters and grisms; spectral resolutions as high as R = l/Dl = 2000 Pathways toward Habitable Planets, Barcelona, Spain, 16 September, 2009

  15. Advantages of SOFIA for Transit Observations • Observations are not dependant on the weather that affects ground-based telescopes • > 6 hour transits (e. g. HD80606b) can be observed continuously with SOFIA (HST can only observe for 96 minute stretches) • SOFIA’s lifetime and mobility support long-term studies of temporal variations in exoplanet atmospheres. SOFIA can observe within 20 degrees of the Sun) Pathways toward Habitable Planets, Barcelona, Spain, 16 September, 2009

  16. Transit Spectroscopy of Exoplanet Atmospheres Barman, T., 2007, ApJ, 661, L191 Model atmospheric radii with H2O (dark red line) and without H2O(dotted red line) compared with observations (bars) • Technique of Transit Spectroscopy relies on • variation of planet radius with wavelength • These STIS data reveal the signature of water • HIPO and FLITECAM co-mounted on SOFIA • will permit simultaneous observations over a • broad wavelength range HD 209458b Knutson et al., 2007, ApJ, 655, 564 Pathways toward Habitable Planets, Barcelona, Spain, 16 September, 2009

  17. Detection of Biogenic Molecules in Extrasolar Planetary Atmospheres by the transit Method M. R. Swain et al. 2009, ApJ, 690, L114 HD 189733b Pathways toward Habitable Planets, Barcelona, Spain, 16 September, 2009

  18. Biogenic Molecules in the Atmospheres of Extrasolar Planets M. R. Swain et al. 2008, Nature, 452, 329 Methane in the atmosphere of HD 189733b Pathways toward Habitable Planets, Barcelona, Spain, 16 September, 2009

  19. First Direct Spectroscopic Comparison oftwo Exoplanet Atmospheres • Comparison of dayside emission spectra of HD 189733b and • HD 209458b, shows: • Significant CH4 enhancement in HD 209458b • Suggestion of enhancement in the abundance of CH4 and H2O in HD 209458b M. R. Swain et al. 2009, ApJL, in press Pathways toward Habitable Planets, Barcelona, Spain, 16 September, 2009

  20. Where SOFIA can Contribute to Spectroscopic Studies of Exoplanet Atmospheres M. R. Swain et al. 2009, ApJL, in press • Synthetic spectra of hypothetical exoplanet atmospheres with significant abundances of CH4, H2O, & CO2 shows that these atmospheres produce significant absorption and emission features at wavelengths obscured from the ground but available at SOFIA altitudes Pathways toward Habitable Planets, Barcelona, Spain, 16 September, 2009

  21. Summary • SOFIA will be a premier facility for far-IR and submillimeter spectroscopy for many years • It will be especially effective for spectroscopic studies of the physics and chemistry of: • Proto-planetary disks • The atmosphers Extrasolar planets • Special emphasis will be given to biogenic molecules Our Web site:http://www.sofia.usra.edu/ This talk:http://www.sofia.usra.edu/Science/speakers/index.html Pathways toward Habitable Planets, Barcelona, Spain, 16 September, 2009

  22. Backup Pathways toward Habitable Planets, Barcelona, Spain, 16 September, 2009

  23. SOFIA’s First-Generation Instruments * Facility-class instrument ** Developed as a PI-class instrument, but will be converted to Facility-class during operations Pathways toward Habitable Planets, Barcelona, Spain, 16 September, 2009

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