Exoplanet Characterization and the Search for Life

Over 300 extrasolar planets (exoplanets) have been detected orbiting nearby stars. We now hope to conduct a census of all planets around nearby stars and to characterize their atmospheres and surfaces with spectroscopy. Rocky planets within their star's habitable zones have the highest priority, as these have the potential to harbor life. Our science goal is to find and characterize all nearby exoplanets; this requires that we measure the mass, orbit, and spectroscopic signature of each one at visible and infrared wavelengths. The techniques for doing this are at hand today. Within the decade we could answer long-standing questions about the evolution and nature of other planetary systems, and we could search for clues as to whether life exists elsewhere in our galactic neighborhood.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Astro2010 Decadal Revie

Starfire Optical Range 3.5-m telescope adaptive optical system

A 941 channel, 1500 Hertz frame rate adaptive optical (AO) system has been installed and tested in the coude path of the 3.5m telescope at the USAF Research Laboratory Starfire Optical Range. This paper describes the design and measured performance of the principal components comprising this system and present sample results from the first closed-loop test of the system on stars and an artificial source simulator

Starfire Optical Range 3.5-m telescope adaptive optical system

A 941 channel, 1500 Hertz frame rate adaptive optical (AO) system has been installed and tested in the coude path of the 3.5m telescope at the USAF Research Laboratory Starfire Optical Range. This paper describes the design and measured performance of the principal components comprising this system and present sample results from the first closed-loop test of the system on stars and an artificial source simulator