Finding and Characterizing Other Worlds: the Thermal-IR ELT Opportunity

Michael R. Meyer; Thayne Currie; Olivier Guyon; Yasuhiro Hasegawa; Markus Kasper; Christian Marois; John Monnier; Katie Morzinski; Chris Packham; Sascha Quanz

arXiv · 1804.03218

Finding and Characterizing Other Worlds: the Thermal-IR ELT Opportunity

Michael R. Meyer·Thayne Currie·Olivier Guyon·Yasuhiro Hasegawa·Markus Kasper·Christian Marois·John Monnier·Katie Morzinski·Chris Packham·Sascha Quanz

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Abstract

The next generation ground-based extremely large telescopes (ELTs) present incredible opportunities to discover and characterize diverse planetary systems, even potentially habitable worlds. Adaptive-optics assisted thermal-IR (3-14 micron) imaging is a powerful tool to study exoplanets with extant 6-12 meter telescopes. ELTs have the spatial resolution and sensitivity that offer an unparalleled expansion of the available discovery space. AO-assisted thermal-IR instruments on ELTs will be superior to JWST for high contrast imaging in the thermal-IR, and complementary to high contrast observations at shorter wavelengths, in space or with second-generation extreme AO instruments. With appropriate investments in instrumentation and pre-cursor observations, thermal-IR equipped ELTs could image the first terrestrial and super-earth planets around nearby stars, opening the door to characterization of potentially habitable planets from the ground and space.

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Michael R. Meyer, Thayne Currie, Olivier Guyon, Yasuhiro Hasegawa, Markus Kasper, Christian Marois, John Monnier, Katie Morzinski, Chris Packham, Sascha Quanz. 2018-04-09. Finding and Characterizing Other Worlds: the Thermal-IR ELT Opportunity. https://arxiv.org/abs/1804.03218

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