The SIM/TPF Sample: First Steps in the Comparative Planetology of Neighboring Solar Systems

Details The SIM/TPF Sample: First Steps in the Comparative Planetology of Neighboring Solar Systems The SIM/TPF Sample: First Steps in the Comparative Planetology of Neighboring Solar Systems

Sep 2004

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004sptz.prop.2324b&link_type=abstract

Spitzer Proposal ID #2324

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Scientific paper

In the coming decade, astronomers will characterize the constituents of neighboring solar systems, including gas-giant planets, dust and gas from Kuiper Belt objects, comets and asteroids, and ultimately terrestrial planets using the Space Interferometer Mission (SIM) and the Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF). While the Spitzer telescope has neither the sensitivity nor the angular resolution to detect individual planets, Spitzer is uniquely positioned to characterize the evolution, amount, structure and composition of the dust associated with Kuiper and asteroid belts around stars with and without planets. We request 49.9 hours of Spitzer/MIPS time to observe 165 stars to complete a de facto survey of nearby stars looking for debris disks that has been initiated by a variety of GTO and Legacy programs. The goals of the survey include: 1. Completing a large census to enable statistical investigations of the debris disk phenomenon in terms of the age, metallicity, and spectral type of parent stars. 2. Correlating the amount of debris disk emission with planets that have been or will be discovered through a variety of techniques (radial velocity searches, SIM and TPF) to deepen our understanding of the relationship of the presence of planets to the properties of debris disks. 3. Understanding the potential influence of zodiacal emission on the eventual detectability of planets. 4. Finding the stars with excesses suitable for follow-up by telescopes at other wavelengths. We will conduct an efficient survey at 24 and 70 micron to identify stars with excesses and will carry out a modest second-look program to characterize more fully the disks we detect. Our team includes experts in determining the physical properties of nearby stars, in developing SED and dynamic models of disks, and in analyzing MIPS observations.

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