Direct studies of exo-planets with the New Worlds Observer

Webster Cash; Jeremy Kasdin; Sara Seager; Jonathon Arenberg

doi:10.1117/12.617377

31 August 2005 Direct studies of exo-planets with the New Worlds Observer

Webster Cash, Jeremy Kasdin, Sara Seager, Jonathon Arenberg

Proceedings Volume 5899, UV/Optical/IR Space Telescopes: Innovative Technologies and Concepts II; 58990S (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.617377
Event: Optics and Photonics 2005, 2005, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

The New World Observer has the potential to discover and study planets around other stars without expensive and risky technical heroics. We describe the starshade, a large, deployable sheet on a separate spacecraft that is flown into position along the line of sight to a nearby star. We show how a starshade can be designed and built in a practical and affordable manner to fully remove starlight and leave only planet light entering a telescope. The simulations demonstrate That NWI can detect planetary system features as faint as comets, perform spectroscopy to look for water and life signs, and perform photometry to search for oceans, continents, clouds and polar caps.

Citation Download Citation

Webster Cash, Jeremy Kasdin, Sara Seager, and Jonathon Arenberg "Direct studies of exo-planets with the New Worlds Observer", Proc. SPIE 5899, UV/Optical/IR Space Telescopes: Innovative Technologies and Concepts II, 58990S (31 August 2005); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.617377

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