Use of a 16 M Telescope to Detect Earthlike Planets

Details Use of a 16 M Telescope to Detect Earthlike Planets Use of a 16 M Telescope to Detect Earthlike Planets

Jan 1990

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1990ngst.conf...81a&link_type=abstract

The Next Generation Space Telescope, p. 81

Computer Science

Performance

11

Imaging Techniques, Spaceborne Telescopes, Apertures, Signal To Noise Ratios, Thermal Emission, Focal Plane Devices, Mirrors, Diffraction

Scientific paper

If there are other planets similar to the Earth, in orbit around nearby stars like the sun, they could be detected through their thermal emission, and their atmospheric compositions measured. A large telescope in Earth orbit is necessary, cooled to around 80 K. In order to overcome the limitations set by diffraction and zodiacal background emission, a primary mirror area of some 200 sq m is required, and an overall dimension of some 20 m. The 16 m telescope under consideration at this conference is ideally suited to the task. It could be configured as a filled round aperture, and the required very high contrast ratio could be obtained with focal plane instruments that block or interfere sections of the wavefront. Alternatively, the primary surface could be made from four slightly separated 8 m monoliths. The latter configuration yields the highest resolution and contrast when operated as an interferometer, with little negative impact on performance for direct imaging. A properly optimized telescope should yield spectra of good quality (lamda/delta lamda = 100, signal/noise ratio of 50) of earthlike planets as far away as 10 pc, given integrations of a week or so.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Use of a 16 M Telescope to Detect Earthlike Planets does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Use of a 16 M Telescope to Detect Earthlike Planets, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Use of a 16 M Telescope to Detect Earthlike Planets will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1564118