Baseline requirements for detecting biosignatures with the HabEx and LUVOIR mission concepts

Ji Wang; Dimitri Mawet; Garreth Ruane; Jacques-Robert Delorme; Nikita Klimovich; Renyu Hu

doi:10.1117/12.2275222

1 September 2017 Baseline requirements for detecting biosignatures with the HabEx and LUVOIR mission concepts

Ji Wang, Dimitri Mawet, Garreth Ruane, Jacques-Robert Delorme, Nikita Klimovich, Renyu Hu

Proceedings Volume 10400, Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets VIII; 104000Z (2017) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2275222
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2017, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

A milestone in understanding life in the universe is the detection of biosignature gases in the atmospheres of habitable exoplanets. Future mission concepts under study by the 2020 decadal survey, e.g., HabEx and LUVOIR, have the potential of achieving this goal. We investigate the baseline requirements for detecting four molecular species, H₂O, O₂, CH₄, and CO₂. These molecules are highly relevant to habitability and life activity on Earth and other planets. Through numerical simulations, we find the minimum requirement for spectral resolution (R) and starlight suppression level (C) for a given exposure time. We consider scenarios in which different molecules are detected. For example, R = 6400 (400) and C = 5 × 10⁻¹⁰ (2 × 10⁻⁹ ) are required for HabEx (LUVOIR) to detect O₂ and H₂O for an exposure time of 400 hours for an Earth analog around a solar-type star at a distance of 5 pc. The full results are given in Table 2. The impact of exo-zodiacal contamination and thermal background is also discussed

Conference Presentation

Citation Download Citation

Ji Wang, Dimitri Mawet, Garreth Ruane, Jacques-Robert Delorme, Nikita Klimovich, and Renyu Hu "Baseline requirements for detecting biosignatures with the HabEx and LUVOIR mission concepts", Proc. SPIE 10400, Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets VIII, 104000Z (1 September 2017); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2275222

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available