Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Aug 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006iaujd..16e..27u&link_type=abstract
Nomenclature, Precession and New Models in Fundamental Astronomy, 26th meeting of the IAU, Joint Discussion 16, 22-23 August 200
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
The Space Interferometry Mission PlanetQuest (SIM PlanetQuest) will be the first space-based long baseline Michelson interferometer designed for precision astrometry. With an accuracy of a few microarcseconds, SIM will contribute strongly to many fields including stellar and galactic astrophysics, planetary systems around nearby stars, and the study of quasar nuclei. SIM will search for planets with masses as small as a few Earth masses around the nearest stars, using measurements to 1 microarcsec precision, perhaps discovering several dozen planets at 5 Earth masses in the `habitable zone' if such planets are common. It will fully characterize the multiple-planet systems that are now known to exist, and it will be able to search all of the candidate target stars in the Terrestrial Planet Finder and Darwin mission lists. It will detect planets around young stars, providing insights into the how planetary systems are born and how they evolve with time. SIM will measure positions to 4 microarcseconds on targets as faint as 19 magnitude, allowing accurate distances to many types of stars, and will measure stellar masses to 1%, the accuracy needed to challenge physical models. SIM will probe the galactic mass distribution, and through studies of tidal tails, the formation and evolution of the galactic halo, using measurements of proper motions. It will use precision astrometry to probe accretion disks and relativistic jets in the variable nuclei of active galaxies. SIM PlanetQuest is currently in project Phase B, with a preliminary Design Review in 2007.
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