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ally in a leadership position due to the presence of the Concordia station, Dome C operation is made in a fully international (Antarctica Treaty), politically interesting (‘continent of science’) context, which may help to gather resources and foster international cooperation (Australia, USA, China) for a large project. A major facility could be proposed at the EU level in 2007, as part of the FP7 programme, and in coincidence with the International Polar Year. While an interferometer along the lines of GENIE seems very appealing, building OWL at Dome C is a different matter. Exo-planet studies are going to be one of several science drivers for any ELT. Limited sky coverage, and logistics, may be the limiting factors. Meanwhile, specific concepts being studied include: (a) a 0.8-m Italian project, featuring a mid-infrared imager (5–25 µm) and possibly a 1–2.5 µm spectrograph. Construction at Dome C has started, and first light is scheduled for December 2005; (b) a large Australian Dome C development proposal including various groups involved in a 2-m optical/IR telescope (PILOT). Associated structures at Dome C are already advancing, with the first winter-over starting in 2005; (c) a robotic reflective Schmidt telescope for Dome C by Strassmeier et al. (2004); (d) a successful bid for NSF study money for Phase 1 of an Antarctic Planetary Interferometer (API), to be placed at Dome C (PI: Mark Swain). Phase 1 is intended to be capable of atmospheric spectroscopy of gas giants, whereas it will take a full Phase 2 system to target Earth-like planets; (e) a French concept for a Dome C interferometer called KEOPS (Kiloparsec Explorer for Optical Planet Search, PI: Farrokh Vakili). Proposed timescales cover the current study phase (telescopes, beam stabilisation, co-phasing, delay lines, recombiner, coronograph); a single 1.5-m telescope operation in 2007; a simple interferometer with 2 telescopes in 2008–09; first 6-telescope ring system, possibly in association with API, around 2015; and a full 36-telescope system in the more distant future. 47
3.2 Space Observations: 2015–2025 The literature makes no reference to transit missions beyond Kepler and Eddington, nor astrometric missions beyond SIM and Gaia, all due for completion around 2015. Rather, space missions projected for 2015–20 and beyond fall into the category of ‘imaging’ or ‘direct detection’ concepts, notably Darwin and/or TPF. ‘Imaging’ here generally refers to imaging of the exo-planetary system, i.e. direct detection of the exo-planet as a point source of light distinct from that of the parent star, and not to resolved imaging of the exo-planet surface. The next major break-through in exo-planetary science will be the detection and detailed characterisation of Earth-like planets in habitable zones. The prime goals would be to detect light from Earth-like planets and to perform low-resolution spectroscopy of their atmospheres in order to characterise their physical and chemical properties. The target samples would include about 200 stars in the Solar neighbourhood. Follow-up spectroscopy covering the molecular bands of CO 2 , H 2 O, O 3 , and CH 4 will deepen understanding of Earth-like planets in general, and may lead to the identification of unique biomarkers. The search for life on other planets will enable us to place life as it exists today on Earth in the context of planetary and biological evolution and survival. In the more distant future, perhaps well beyond 2025, a successful Darwin/TPF would logically be followed by ‘life finders’ and true ‘planet imagers’. At present they appear only as more distant goals, and a brief discussion of them is given in Appendix B. They are unlikely to affect ESA/NASA policy over the next decade or more, at least until the prospects for the success of Darwin/TPF can be quantified, except in the areas of advanced technology studies. Similarly, ideas beyond Darwin/TPF are unlikely to influence the choices or prospects for the very large (50–100 m) telescopes on ground. 3.2.1 Darwin Darwin is the ESA mission concept aiming at the direct detection of exo-planets, and is focused on an interferometer configuration. It was originally conceived as a set of eight spacecraft at L2 (6 telescopes, one beam combination unit, and one communication unit) that would survey 100 of the closest stars in the infrared, searching for Earth-like planets and analysing their atmospheres for the chemical signature of life (Fridlund, 2000), scientific objectives in common with those of TPF. More recent studies have identified a simplified option, employing 4 telescopes separated by up to 50–100 m operated in a ‘dual-Bracewell’ configuration (or possibly 3×3.5 m telescopes), requiring a dual Soyuz-Fregat launch, and a target launch date of 2015. The mission foresees a detection phase of 2 years (allowing the follow-up of 150–200 stars), and a spectroscopy phase of 3 years. Specific precursor efforts include a possible space mission (Smart-3) to demonstrate the concept of forma- 48
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Report by the ESA-ESO Working Group
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