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arXiv · 1203.0507

SPICES: Spectro-Polarimetric Imaging and Characterization of Exoplanetary Systems

Anthony Boccaletti·Jean Schneider·Wes Traub·Pierre-Olivier Lagage·Daphne Stam·Raffaele Gratton·John Trauger·Kerri Cahoy·Frans Snik·Pierre Baudoz·Raphael Galicher·Jean-Michel Reess·Dimitri Mawet·Jean-Charles Augereau·Jennifer Patience·Marc Kuchner·Mark Wyatt·Eric Pantin·Anne-Lise Maire·Christophe Verinaud·Samuel Ronayette·Didier Dubreuil·Michiel Min·Michiel Rodenhuis·Dino Mesa·Ruslan Belikov·Olivier Guyon·Motohide Tamura·Naoshi Murakami·Ingrid Mary Beerer·the SPICES team
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Abstract

SPICES (Spectro-Polarimetric Imaging and Characterization of Exoplanetary Systems) is a five-year M-class mission proposed to ESA Cosmic Vision. Its purpose is to image and characterize long-period extrasolar planets and circumstellar disks in the visible (450 - 900 nm) at a spectral resolution of about 40 using both spectroscopy and polarimetry. By 2020/22, present and near-term instruments will have found several tens of planets that SPICES will be able to observe and study in detail. Equipped with a 1.5 m telescope, SPICES can preferentially access exoplanets located at several AUs (0.5-10 AU) from nearby stars ($<$25 pc) with masses ranging from a few Jupiter masses to Super Earths ($\sim$2 Earth radii, $\sim$10 M$_{\oplus}$) as well as circumstellar disks as faint as a few times the zodiacal light in the Solar System.

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Anthony Boccaletti, Jean Schneider, Wes Traub, Pierre-Olivier Lagage, Daphne Stam, Raffaele Gratton, John Trauger, Kerri Cahoy, Frans Snik, Pierre Baudoz, Raphael Galicher, Jean-Michel Reess, Dimitri Mawet, Jean-Charles Augereau, Jennifer Patience, Marc Kuchner, Mark Wyatt, Eric Pantin, Anne-Lise Maire, Christophe Verinaud, Samuel Ronayette, Didier Dubreuil, Michiel Min, Michiel Rodenhuis, Dino Mesa, Ruslan Belikov, Olivier Guyon, Motohide Tamura, Naoshi Murakami, Ingrid Mary Beerer, the SPICES team. 2012-03-02. SPICES: Spectro-Polarimetric Imaging and Characterization of Exoplanetary Systems. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10686-012-9290-5

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