A starshade for NASA’s habitable worlds observatory concept: exoplanet characterization in the UV

Stuart Shaklan; Dylan McKeithen; Doug Lisman; Philip Dumont

doi:10.1117/12.2677793

5 October 2023 A starshade for NASA’s habitable worlds observatory concept: exoplanet characterization in the UV

Stuart Shaklan, Dylan McKeithen, Doug Lisman, Philip Dumont

Proceedings Volume 12680, Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets XI; 1268010 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2677793
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2023, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) concept is a 6-meter diameter deep space telescope operating from the ultraviolet through the near infrared. One of its primary goals is to measure the spectra of 25 Earth-like exoplanets. While the Decadal Survey described a highly stabilized off-axis telescope with a coronagraph to perform these measurements, a starshade offers an alternative approach that will be especially effective in the ultraviolet because it offers high throughput, large bandwidth, small working angle, and does not require a picometer-stabilized telescope. We show the feasibility of obtaining UV spectra and measuring the presence of Ozone in the Hartley band using a 35 m diameter starshade with a bandpass of 250 nm to 500 nm. Spectra with high SNR can be obtained in just a few days of integration on Earth-like exoplanets orbiting solar type stars.

Conference Presentation

(2023) Published by SPIE. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Citation Download Citation

Stuart Shaklan, Dylan McKeithen, Doug Lisman, and Philip Dumont "A starshade for NASA’s habitable worlds observatory concept: exoplanet characterization in the UV", Proc. SPIE 12680, Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets XI, 1268010 (5 October 2023); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2677793

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