The Critical, Strategic Importance of Adaptive Optics-Assisted
Ground-Based Telescopes for the Success of Future NASA Exoplanet Direct
Imaging Missions
Ground-based telescopes coupled with adaptive optics (AO) have been playing a
leading role in exoplanet direct imaging science and technological development
for the past two decades and will continue to have an indispensable role for
the next decade and beyond. Over the next decade, extreme AO systems on 8-10m
telescopes will 1) mitigate risk for WFIRST-CGI by identifying numerous planets
the mission can spectrally characterize, 2) validate performance requirements
and motivate improvements to atmosphere models needed to unambiguously
characterize solar system-analogues from space, and 3) mature novel
technological innovations useful for space. Extremely Large Telescopes can
deliver the first thermal infrared (10 μm) images of rocky planets around
Sun-like stars and identify biomarkers. These data provide a future NASA direct
imaging flagship mission (i.e. HabEx, LUVOIR) with numerous exo-Earth
candidates and critical ancillary information to help clarify whether these
planets are habitable.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures; Astro2020 Decadal Survey submission; argues for
strategic NASA support of ground-based exoplanet direct imaging science
programs and tech development. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap
with arXiv:1803.0545