Speaker
Description
One of the primary goals of the astronomical community in the next few decades is to characterize temperate terrestrial exoplanets to search for life. To address this challenge, the US Astro2020 Decadal survey recommended the pursuit of a technical and scientific study for the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), an ultraviolet/visible/ near-infrared (UV/VIS/NIR) “high-contrast direct imaging mission with a target off-axis inscribed diameter of approximately 6 meters” which shares design and technology heritage with the previous concept studies HabEx (Habitable Exoplanet Observatory) and LUVOIR (Large UV/Optical/IR Surveyor). Similarly, European scientists focus on the development of the MIR space-based nulling interferometer LIFE (Large Interferometer For Exoplanets). These observatories would focus on complementary regions of the electromagnetic spectrum: HWO will explore the reflected light spectrum regime in the UV/VIS/NIR, while LIFE would capture the planetary thermal emission in the MIR. Both wavelength ranges provide us with their specific set of preferred information and come with specific drawbacks. Yet, the scientific yield of synergistic observations in the UV/VIS/NIR+MIR range has the potential of being greater than the sum of its parts: having access to multiple spectral windows into the atmosphere of a potentially habitable planet could be transformative for the search of life in the universe. In this talk, I will discuss the potential of LIFE and HWO in characterizing a cloud-free Earth twin at 10-parsec distance both as separate missions and in synergy with each other.
