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Anders Johansen. Profile picture.

Anders Johansen

Professor

Anders Johansen. Profile picture.

The Large Interferometer For Exoplanets (LIFE) : A space mission for mid-infrared nulling interferometry

Author

  • Adrian M. Glauser
  • Mark Wyatt
  • Anders Johansen

Editor

  • Jens Kammerer
  • Stephanie Sallum
  • Joel Sanchez-Bermudez

Summary, in English

The Large Interferometer For Exoplanets (LIFE) is a proposed space mission that enables the spectral characterization of the thermal emission of exoplanets in the solar neighborhood. The mission is designed to search for global atmospheric biosignatures on dozens of temperate terrestrial exoplanets and it will naturally investigate the diversity of other worlds. Here, we review the status of the mission concept, discuss the key mission parameters, and outline the trade-offs related to the mission's architecture. In preparation for an upcoming concept study, we define a mission baseline based on a free-formation flying constellation of a double Bracewell nulling interferometer that consists of 4 collectors and a central beam-combiner spacecraft. The interferometric baselines are between 10-600 m, and the estimated diameters of the collectors are at least 2 m (but will depend on the total achievable instrument throughput). The spectral required wavelength range is 6-16 µm (with a goal of 4-18.5 µm), hence cryogenic temperatures are needed both for the collectors and the beam combiners. One of the key challenges is the required deep, stable, and broad-band nulling performance while maintaining a high system throughput for the planet signal. Among many ongoing or needed technology development activities, the demonstration of the measurement principle under cryogenic conditions is fundamentally important for LIFE.

Publishing year

2024

Language

English

Publication/Series

Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering

Volume

13095

Document type

Conference paper

Publisher

SPIE

Keywords

  • exoplanets
  • Interferometry
  • LIFE
  • Mission
  • Nulling
  • Space

Conference name

Optical and Infrared Interferometry and Imaging IX 2024

Conference date

2024-06-17 - 2024-06-22

Conference place

Yokohama, Japan

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0277-786X
  • ISSN: 1996-756X
  • ISBN: 9781510675131