Physics – Optics
Scientific paper
Dec 2000
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2000aas...197.4909n&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, 197th AAS Meeting, #49.09; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 33, p.709
Physics
Optics
Scientific paper
The mission of NASA's Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) is to find Earth-like planets orbiting other stars and characterize the atmospheres of these planets using spectroscopy. Because of the enormous brightness ratio between the star and the reflected light from the planet, techniques must be found to reduce the brightness of the star. The current favorite approach to doing this is with infrared interferometry: interfering the light from two (or more) separated telescopes with a pi/2 phase shift, nulling out the starlight and allowing detection of the reflected light from the planet. While this technique can, in principle, achieve the required dynamic range, building a space interferometer that has the necessary characteristics poses immense technical difficulties. In this paper, we suggest a much simpler approach to achieving the required dynamic range. This approach could lead to construction of a TPF that uses conventional technology and operates in the visible, requiring space optics on a much smaller scale than the current TPF approach. We wish to acknowledge support for this work from an SVS subcontract (SVS Inc SUB-00-095) for TPF studies to the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.
Nisenson Peter
Papaliolios Costas
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