Space mission and instrument design to image the Habitable Zone of Alpha Centauri Eduardo Bendek1 (D-PI)
[email protected] , Ruslan Belikov1 (PI), Sandrine Thomas1, Julien Lozi2, Sasha Weston and the ACESat team (Northrop Grumman Xinetics / Space systems Loral) 1 NASA Ames Research Center, 2 Subaru Observatory 1 Small Sat 2015, August 2015 αCen AB: a Unique Opportunity for small optical space telescopes 1,400 light years away! 2 Small Sat 2015, August 2015 42 CCD 2200x1024 Exoplanet detection>10˚x10˚ FoV techniques 223,000 Stars in the FoV 100,000 usable targets (mv<14) Precision 2,3 to 93,5 ppm Exoplanet next step: Image an earth-like planet 4 αCen AB: a Unique Opportunity for small optical space telescopes Why Alpha Centauri? • Alpha Centauri is a our closest star and the only one accessible where the Habitable Zone is accessible to a 30cm class telescope • The system is binary and therefore it double the probability of finding a earth like planet reaching close to 50% chances according to latest Kepler statistics. • An earth –size planet has been found in 2012, aCen Bb, but is too close to the star. This increases the likelihood of a earth-like planet in the HZ of the star. 5 Small Sat 2015, August 2015 Scientific requirements Goal: Image 0.5 to 2.0 Re planets’ equivalent brightness, in the HZ of aCen A&B during a 2 year mission Contrs. IWA OWA aCen B 6x10-11 0.4” 0.95” 6x10-11 1.6λ/D 3.8λ/D -11 aCen A 2x 10 -11 2x 10 2x10-11 0.7” 1.63” 6 x 10 -11 6 x 10 -11 2x10-11 2.7λ/D 6.5λ/D Stability limit (aCen A) 2x10-11 2.07” 2x10-11 8.3λ/D Sensitivity SNR=5 1.6 Days ODI 30 Days Calibra tion Credit: Billy Quarles, NASA Ames Small Sat 2015, August 2015 Scientific requirements Goal: Image 0.5 to 2.0 Re planets’ equivalent brightness, in the HZ of aCen A&B during a 2 year mission Contrs.