CCD photometry tests for a mission to detect Earth-sized planets in the extended solar neighborhood

David G. Koch; William J. Borucki; Edward W. Dunham; Jon M. Jenkins; Larry Webster; Fred C. Witteborn

doi:10.1117/12.394034

28 July 2000 CCD photometry tests for a mission to detect Earth-sized planets in the extended solar neighborhood

David G. Koch, William J. Borucki, Edward W. Dunham, Jon M. Jenkins, Larry Webster, Fred C. Witteborn

Proceedings Volume 4013, UV, Optical, and IR Space Telescopes and Instruments; (2000) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.394034
Event: Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation, 2000, Munich, Germany

Abstract

The thirty or so extrasolar planets that have been discovered to date are all about as large as Jupiter or larger. Finding Earth-size planets is a substantially more difficult task. We propose the use of spacebased differential photometry to detect the periodic changes in brightness of several hours duration caused by planets transiting their parent stars. The change in brightness for a Sun-Earth analog transit is 8 X 10^-5. We describe the instrument and mission concepts that will monitor 100,000 main-sequence stars and detect on the order of 500 Earth-size planets, if terrestrial planets are common in the extended solar neighborhood.

Citation Download Citation

David G. Koch, William J. Borucki, Edward W. Dunham, Jon M. Jenkins, Larry Webster, and Fred C. Witteborn "CCD photometry tests for a mission to detect Earth-sized planets in the extended solar neighborhood", Proc. SPIE 4013, UV, Optical, and IR Space Telescopes and Instruments, (28 July 2000); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.394034

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