Balloon exoplanet nulling interferometer (BENI)

Richard G. Lyon; Mark Clampin; Robert A. Woodruff; Gopal Vasudevan; Holland Ford; Larry Petro; Jay Herman; Stephen Rinehart; Kenneth Carpenter; Joe Marzouk

doi:10.1117/12.827411

19 August 2009 Balloon exoplanet nulling interferometer (BENI)

Richard G. Lyon, Mark Clampin, Robert A. Woodruff, Gopal Vasudevan, Holland Ford, Larry Petro, Jay Herman, Stephen Rinehart, Kenneth Carpenter, Joe Marzouk

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 7440, Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets IV; 74401A (2009) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.827411
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2009, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

We evaluate the feasibility of a balloon-borne nulling interferometer to detect and characterize an exosolar planet and the surrounding debris disk. The existing instrument consists of a three-telescope Fizeau imaging interferometer with thre fast steering mirrors and three delay lines operating at 800 Hz for closed-loop control of wavefront errors and fine pointing. A compact visible nulling interferometer would be coupled to the imaging interferometer and in principle, allows deep starlight suppression. Atmospheric simulations of the environment above 100,000 feet show that balloonborne payloads are a possible path towards the direct detection and characterization of a limited set of exoplanets and debris disks. Furthermore, rapid development of lower cost balloon payloads provide a path towards advancement of NASA technology readiness levels for future space-based exoplanet missions. Discussed are the BENI mission and instrument, the balloon environment and the feasibility of such a balloon-borne mission.

Citation Download Citation

Richard G. Lyon, Mark Clampin, Robert A. Woodruff, Gopal Vasudevan, Holland Ford, Larry Petro, Jay Herman, Stephen Rinehart, Kenneth Carpenter, and Joe Marzouk "Balloon exoplanet nulling interferometer (BENI)", Proc. SPIE 7440, Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets IV, 74401A (19 August 2009); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.827411

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