Terrestrial Planet Finder: the search for life-bearing planets around other stars

Charles A. Beichman

doi:10.1117/12.317137

24 July 1998 Terrestrial Planet Finder: the search for life-bearing planets around other stars

Charles A. Beichman

Proceedings Volume 3350, Astronomical Interferometry; (1998) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.317137
Event: Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation, 1998, Kona, HI, United States

Abstract

The Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) will detect and characterize Earth-like planets around nearby stars. NASA is currently funding a number of small studies to look at trade-offs in the design of TPF. The possible trade-offs include orbit location (1 to 5 AU), aperture size (4 to 2 m), and physically connected baselines vs. separated spacecraft flying in close formation. The performance of TPF depends critically on the brightness of the local zodiacal dust cloud at the observing site, and on the brightness and degree of structure in the zodiacal dust cloud around other stars. Sensitivity calculations indicate that TPF could accomplish its goals using 4-5 m telescopes operating at 1 AU. Such a mission would have many advantages relative to a mission operating smaller telescopes in lower background conditions at 5 AU.

Citation Download Citation

Charles A. Beichman "Terrestrial Planet Finder: the search for life-bearing planets around other stars", Proc. SPIE 3350, Astronomical Interferometry, (24 July 1998); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.317137

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