PGC2018-098153-B-C33
Financiado
SEARCH AND CHARACTERIZATION OF EXOEARTHS: THE ROAD TO ARIEL
WE LIVE IN AN EXCITING SCIENTIFIC ERA, IN WHICH THE DISCOVERY OF NEW EXOPLANETS AND THE LATEST ADVANCES IN THE STUDY OF THEIR ATMOSPHERES ARE NOT ONLY PROVIDING VALUABLE NEW KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE PHYSICS OF EXOPLANETARY SYSTEMS, BUT...
WE LIVE IN AN EXCITING SCIENTIFIC ERA, IN WHICH THE DISCOVERY OF NEW EXOPLANETS AND THE LATEST ADVANCES IN THE STUDY OF THEIR ATMOSPHERES ARE NOT ONLY PROVIDING VALUABLE NEW KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE PHYSICS OF EXOPLANETARY SYSTEMS, BUT ALSO PLACING THE SOLAR SYSTEM AND OUR OWN EARTH IN A MUCH BROADER CONTEXT, PROGRESS IN THIS FRONT IS CONTRIBUTING GREATLY TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE IMPACT OF THE ENVIRONMENT ON ATMOSPHERIC PROCESSES THAT DOMINATE THE CLIMATE OF A PLANET, THE EXOPLANET FIELD HAS WITNESSED A REVOLUTION WITH THE RESULTS OF THE KEPLER AND COROT SPACE MISSIONS, WHICH HAVE UNCOVERED A LARGE POPULATION OF SMALL PLANETS, A FEW OF WHICH IN THE HABITABLE ZONES OF THEIR STARS, UNFORTUNATELY, THESE SYSTEMS ARE TOO FAR AWAY AND THUS TOO FAINT TO MAKE THEM SUITABLE FOR FURTHER CHARACTERIZATION, BUT THE RESULTS OF THESE MISSIONS HAVE SHOWN THAT THE EXISTENCE OF ROCKY HABITABLE PLANETS AROUND STARS MAY BE THE NORM RATHER THAN THE EXCEPTION, A NEW GENERATION OF SPACE MISSIONS AND GROUND-BASED PROJECTS IS NOW BEING DEVELOPED, IN PARTICULAR, SPACE PHOTOMETRIC MISSIONS LIKE ESAS CHEOPS, PLATO, AND ARIEL, AND GROUND-BASED RADIAL VELOCITY INSTRUMENTS, SUCH AS CARMENES, FOCUS ON THE SEARCH AND CHARACTERIZATION OF NEARBY (BRIGHT) HABITABLE PLANETS,CHEOPS IS THE FIRST ESA S-TYPE MISSION, AND WILL BE THE FIRST MISSION DEDICATED TO SEARCH FOR TRANSITS BY MEANS OF ULTRAHIGH PRECISION PHOTOMETRY ON BRIGHT STARS ALREADY KNOWN TO HOST PLANETS, TARGETS WILL COME FROM BOTH GROUND-BASED AND SPACE TRANSIT SEARCHES BUT ALSO FROM FOLLOW-UP OF RADIAL VELOCITY EXPERIMENTS, SUCH AS CARMENES, WHOSE MAIN GOAL IS TO DISCOVER HABITABLE PLANETS ORBITING M STARS, USING THE TECHNIQUE OF PRECISE RADIAL VELOCITIES FROM THE VISIBLE TO THE IR, CARMENES WAS INSTALLED AT THE 3,5-M TELESCOPE OF THE CALAR ALTO OBSERVATORY WILL BE RUNNING ITS 300-M DWARF SURVEY AT LEAST UNTIL THE END OF 2020, THE NEXT STEP IN THIS PICTURE IS PLATO, WHICH IS SCHEDULED FOR LAUNCH IN 2026, PLATO WILL ANSWER THE PROFOUND AND CAPTIVATING QUESTION: HOW COMMON ARE WORLDS LIKE OURS AND ARE THEY SUITABLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF LIFE? AND THE ARIEL MISSION, WHICH SHOULD LAUNCH IN 2018 AND PROVIDE US WITH EXQUISITE MEASUREMENTS TO CHARACTERIZE THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF EXOPLANET ATMOSPHERES OF DIFFERENT TYPES, INCLUDING ROCKY PLANETS, WE HAVE A VERY DEEP TECHNICAL INVOLVEMENT IN ARIEL AND WE WILL BE WORKING ON PHASES B1 AND B2 OVER THE COURSE OF THE PROJECT, OUR RESPONSIBILITIES INCLUDE THE TELESCOPE CONTROL UNIT (TCU), THE M2 MIRROR RE-FOCUSING SYSTEM, AND THE MISSION GROUND SEGMENT, BY COORDINATING THE SCHEDULING FOR MISSION OPERATIONS,THE PRESENT PROJECT SETS OUT TO FOLLOW A WELL-DEFINED PATH, WITH THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF FINDING AND CHARACTERIZING HABITABLE EARTH-LIKE PLANETS, AND THE EVENTUAL MEASUREMENTS OF THEIR ATMOSPHERES AND SEARCH FOR BIOSIGNATURES, THE BACKBONE OF THIS ROADMAP IS STRUCTURED AROUND SEVERAL LARGE INSTRUMENT PROJECTS IN WHICH WE ARE DEEPLY INVOLVED, OUR ACTIVITY IN THE 2019-2023 TIME-FRAME OF THIS PROJECT IS CRUCIAL TO ESTABLISH OURSELVES IN A COMPETITIVE POSITION FOR THE FUTURE, PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES\EXOPLANETS\STELLAR ASTROPHYSICS\ARIEL\CHEOPS\PLATO\CARMENES\EARTH
ver más
Línea de financiación: concedida
El organismo AGENCIA ESTATAL DE INVESTIGACIÓN notifico la concesión del proyecto el día 2018-01-01
Presupuesto
El presupuesto total del proyecto asciende a
1K€
Líder del proyecto
INSTITUT D'ESTUDIS ESPACIALS DE CATALUNYA
Otra investigación y desarrollo experimental en ciencias naturales y técnicas asociacion
Perfil tecnológico
TRL
4-5
130K
Perfil tecnológico
TRL
4-5
130K