The search for biosignatures in potentially habitable exoplanets is one of the major drivers in astrophysics for the coming decades, and the prime science case of the next NASA flagship mission, the "Habitable World Observatory", planned for the 2040s. Yet this represents an outstanding technical challenge, as Earth-like planets are 1e10 times fainter than their host stars, and located only a few resolution elements away. Detecting and spectroscopically characterizing a sizable sample of tenuous planets require not only dedicated technologies and instruments, but also optimized observing strategies and image processing techniques. The ESCAPE project aims at developing new observing and processing methods for modern space telescopes, in particular using the new technologies that enable the active control of the wavefront to inform the data processing and stellar PSF rejection. I will introduce the ESCAPE project and detail its plans for an on-sky demonstration on the upcoming Roman Space Telescope coronagraphic instrument, with a launch scheduled Fall 2026.
ESCAPE project : investigating observing and image processing methods for exoplanet direct imaging with future space missions
Lundi 1er juin 2026
de
11:00 à
12:00
Amphithéâtre bâtiment 18 Evry Schatzman, Meudon.
