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Dean C. Hines [Deputy Principle Investigator]

Exoplanetary Circumstellar Environments and Disk Explorer (EXCEDE): A new space telescope proposed for NASA’s Explorers program. Space Science Institute (New Mexico Office). Dean C. Hines [Deputy Principle Investigator]. Glenn Schneider (PI), Olivier Guyon (PS). The University of Arizona.

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Dean C. Hines [Deputy Principle Investigator]

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  1. Exoplanetary Circumstellar Environments and Disk Explorer (EXCEDE):A new space telescope proposed for NASA’s Explorers program. Space Science Institute (New Mexico Office) Dean C. Hines [Deputy Principle Investigator] Glenn Schneider (PI), Olivier Guyon (PS) The University of Arizona

  2. Space Science Institute

  3. Terrestrial Planets Space Science Institute

  4. Solar Systems Voyager Space Science Institute

  5. Zodiacal Dust Space Science Institute

  6. Zodiacal Dust Space Science Institute

  7. A Vast Zoo of Disk Morphologies Krist et al. 2007 Space Science Institute

  8. Current Status, Limitations, Opportunities • Current best contrast with HST ~ 10-4 • Ground-based not even close! • James Webb Space Telescope • Thermal coronagraphy, but • Coronagraphic performance similar to HST • Planet imaging requires 10-9 contrast • Big apertures needed • Technology not developed • EXCEDE –> 10-6–10-7 contrast for terrestrial orbital scales with a sub-meter class space telescope Space Science Institute

  9. Mission Characteristics & Science Payload • Orbit: Sun-synchronous, 950 km, e = 0, i = 99°, LEO • Duration: 2 yr after IOC + 1 yr SEOs • 50-70 cm, unobscured aperture, off-axis telescope • Passive optics for wavefront error correction • Phase Induced Aperture Apodization (PIAA) Coronagraph – Suppresses Telescope Diffraction • Two-band polarimetric imager • Increased contrast • Grain characterization Space Science Institute

  10. Mission Characteristics & Science Payload • Orbit: Sun-synchronous, 950 km, e = 0, i = 99°, LEO • Duration: 2 yr after IOC + 1 yr SEOs • 50-70 cm, unobscured aperture, off-axis telescope • Passive optics for wavefront error correction • Phase Induced Aperture Apodization (PIAA) Coronagraph – Suppresses Telescope Diffraction • Two-band polarimetric imager • Increased contrast • Grain characterization Space Science Institute

  11. Mission Characteristics & Science Payload • Orbit: Sun-synchronous, 950 km, e = 0, i = 99°, LEO • Duration: 2 yr after IOC + 1 yr SEOs • 50-70 cm, unobscured aperture, off-axis telescope • Passive optics for wavefront error correction • Phase Induced Aperture Apodization (PIAA) Coronagraph – Suppresses Telescope Diffraction • Two-band polarimetric imager • Increased contrast • Grain characterization Space Science Institute

  12. Mission Characteristics & Science Payload • Orbit: Sun-synchronous, 950 km, e = 0, i = 99°, LEO • Duration: 2 yr after IOC + 1 yr SEOs • 50-70 cm, unobscured aperture, off-axis telescope • Passive optics for wavefront error correction • Phase Induced Aperture Apodization (PIAA) Coronagraph – Suppresses Telescope Diffraction • Two-band polarimetric imager • Increased contrast • Grain characterization Space Science Institute

  13. Why Polarimetry? Space Science Institute

  14. Optics & Science Camera Space Science Institute

  15. Optical Telescope Assembly Optimized Design Offers Maximum Throughput and No Diffraction Spikes! Off-Axis SecondaryProvides Unobscured Aperture Offset PIAA OpticalBench Re-Imaging Optics& Camera Inside Shroud Space Science Institute

  16. Probing the Habitable Zone Space Science Institute

  17. EXCEDE will image regions inaccessible with current technology. For the 1 Gyr old G2V star HD 107146, EXCEDE will image the inner 60 AU where a giant planet is sculpting the system. EXCEDE will image ≥ 10x Zodi dust clouds orbiting inside the habitable zone for stars within ~10pc of the Earth. Detection would confirm the presence of exo-asteroid belts, with implications for terrestrial planets. HD 82328 (F6IV) a Cen (G2V) 3 AU What We Will See! Space Science Institute

  18. Placing Our Solar System in Context • NASA Strategic Plan subgoal 3b: “conduct advanced telescopic searches for Earth-like planets and habitable environments around other stars” • Science Plan – Strategic Goals and Decadal Outcomes: “understand … the formation of planetary systems” and “create a census of extrasolar planets and measure their properties” • Science Plan – Targeted Outcomes: “study the birth of … planetary systems,” and “determine what properties of a star… are most strongly correlated with the presence of habitable Earth-like planets” Space Science Institute

  19. Conclusion • NASA Strategic Plan subgoal 3b: “conduct advanced telescopic searches for Earth-like planets and habitable environments around other stars” • Science Plan – Strategic Goals and Decadal Outcomes: “understand … the formation of planetary systems” and “create a census of extrasolar planets and measure their properties” • Science Plan – Targeted Outcomes: “study the birth of … planetary systems,” and “determine what properties of a star… are most strongly correlated with the presence of habitable Earth-like planets EXCEDE meets these goals for NASA and provides a technology pathfinder for future missions to directly image exo-planets, including those that potentially harbor life! Space Science Institute

  20. Photo Credit: J. McGraw (2008) Space Science Institute

  21. Fin Space Science Institute

  22. Space Science Institute

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