Observations of Extrasolar Planets Enabled by a Return to the Moon

P. R. McCullough

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arXiv · astro-ph/0703328

Observations of Extrasolar Planets Enabled by a Return to the Moon

P. R. McCullough

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Abstract

Ambitious studies of Earth-like extrasolar planets are outlined in the context of an exploration initiative for a return to the Earth's Moon. Two mechanism for linearly polarizing light reflected from Earth-like planets are discussed: 1) Rayleigh-scattering from a planet's clear atmosphere, and 2) specular reflection from a planet's ocean. Both have physically simple and predictable polarized phase functions. The exoplanetary diurnal variation of the polarized light reflected from a ocean but not from a land surface has the potential to enable reconstruction of the continental boundaries on an Earth-like extrasolar planet. Digressions on the lunar exploration initiative also are presented.

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P. R. McCullough. 2007-03-13. Observations of Extrasolar Planets Enabled by a Return to the Moon. https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0703328

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