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Tim Healy Tony Perry Planet Survey Mission. Introduction Finding Planets Pulsar Timing Astrometry Polarimetry Direct Imaging Transit Method Radial Velocity.

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Presentation on theme: "Tim Healy Tony Perry Planet Survey Mission. Introduction Finding Planets Pulsar Timing Astrometry Polarimetry Direct Imaging Transit Method Radial Velocity."— Presentation transcript:

1 Tim Healy Tony Perry Planet Survey Mission

2 Introduction Finding Planets Pulsar Timing Astrometry Polarimetry Direct Imaging Transit Method Radial Velocity Selecting Planets Recap What else do we want to know? Proposed Plan Outline

3 Introduction

4 (NASA)

5 Finding Planets

6 Pulsar Timing Method First exoplanet confirmation! (1992) Poor candidates for life Wolszczan and Frail, 1992

7 Precisely measure a star’s position over time Mutual center of mass (barycenter) Successful in characterizing binary star systems Inaccurate claims of ‘unseen companions’ Not useful unless planet is massive Good as a complementary technique Astrometry

8 Un-polarized starlight When the light reflects of a planet’s atmosphere, it becomes polarized by interacting with the molecules in the atmosphere Analyze light in search of polarization No planets found using this method Polarimetry University of Hertfordshire

9 Land-Based Direct Imaging Technological Aspects Larger Mirrors Atmospheric Distortions Adaptive Optics (e.g. Keck) Glare from host star Coronograph (e.g. Gemini Planetary Imager) > 5 AU Optical and Near IR spectra Results Potentially useful for finding life Keck II w/laser guide (CASA) Simulation of Coronograph, (GPI)

10 Difficult to directly detect planets (extremely faint light sources) Low Earth orbit in 1990 View the near ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared Outside the distortion of Earth’s atmosphere (no background light) Ultra-Deep Field image 2006 - Sagittarius Window Eclipsing Extrasolar Planet Search (SWEEPS) 16 extrasolar candidate planets discovered When extrapolated, strong evidence of about six billion Jupiter-sized planets Direct Imaging – Hubble Telescope http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAWMa_YEuKI (NASA)

11 Dip in flux ~10^-5 Space-based Mass, period T, habitability Transit Photometry Method (NASA) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjdxJQj4QHY

12 Transit Method (Kepler Mission) Looking for terrestrial planets in habitable zones Launched 3/7/2009 Solar neighborhood-like region Orbit: Earth-trailing, (372.5 days) Off-ecliptic 6 year mission 3 transits for significance Follow-up Observing Good start to look for life Kepler (NASA)

13 2321 candidates around 1790 stars 61 confirmed (2/27/12) 2321 candidates around 1790 stars 61 confirmed (2/27/12) Blue are habitable candidates 48 canidates 1 confirmed (Kepler 22b)

14 Similar to Astrometry Radial velocity calculated from displacement in parent star’s spectral lines due to the Doppler effect Modern spectrometers can detect velocity variations 1 m/s or less High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) Most productive planet hunting technique by far When used in combination with the Transit Method, the planet’s true mass can be estimated Radial Velocity (Doppler Spectroscopy)

15 Surveyed 102 red dwarfs Thought to make up ~80% of the stars in our galaxy 40% of all red dwarf stars have a super-Earth orbiting the habitable zone Estimated tens of billions of these planets exist within the Milky Way Stellar eruptions, flares Radial Velocity - HARPS msnbc - Artist rendition of sunset on super-Earth Gliese 667 Cc

16 Selecting Planets

17 Compiled Results Catalog of planets (mass, period, host star) Lunine et al., 2009

18 Open Questions Rocky or gas giant Atmosphere Orbit stability Presence of: Water Methane Carbon Dioxide Plate Tectonics Satellite(s)

19 Proposed Plan

20 Astronomer median annual wage: $95,500 Mission cost: $1 mil per year Utilize two most productive planet searching techniques Transit Method (Kepler) Radial Velocity (Doppler) Kepler - mission cost for entire life cycle is ~$600 million Doppler - ESO 3.6 m telescope cost is $41.7 million (HAPRS was installed in 2002 on this telescope) James Webb Space Telescope – 2018 launch date ELT, first light 2020s Proposed Plan

21 Questions?


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