Exo-Planet Task Force (ExoPTF)

Stephen Ridgway (NASA)

Dana Lehr, Michael Briley (NSF)

Garth Illingworth (AAAC)

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Exo-Planet PublicationsExo-Planet Discoveries

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One year of ExoPlanet Conferences• October 16 - 18 , 2006

– 6th workshop of the European Astrobiology Network Association

– Lyon, France

• October 23 - 27 , 2006– From Brown Dwarfs to Planets

– Leiden, Neederland

• November 06 - 10 , 2006– TPF/Darwin Workshop

– Pasadena, CA, USA

December 04 - 08 , 2006– Disks, Winds, and Jets: From Planets to Quasars

– Mount Stromlo Observatory, Canberra, Australia

• December 27 , 2006 - January 05 , 2007– The Lives of Low-Mass Stars and their Planetary Systems

– Jerusalem, Israel

• January 05 - 06 , 2007– Evolution and Exploration of Solar Systems

– Irvine, CA, USA

• January 07 - 11 , 2007– 209th AAS Meeting

– Formation and Detection of Habitable Planets session

– Next Generation Radial Velocity Planet Surveys session

– Seattle, WA, USA

• January 15 - 17 , 2007– Gravitational Microlensing Workshop

– Daejeon, Republic of Korea

• February 19 - March 03 , 2007– Winter School on Extrasolar Planets & Astrobiology

– Split, Hrvatska

• March 05 - 08 , 2007– ESO Workshop on Observing Planetary Systems

– Santiago, Chile

• April 11 - 14 , 2007– From Stars to Planets: Connecting our Understanding of Star and Planet

Formation

– Gainesville, FL, USA

• May 28 - June 08 , 2007– Summer School: Circumstellar Disks and Planets at Very High Angular

Resolution

– Porto, Portugal

• June 09 - July 06 , 2007– Summer School on Extrasolar Planets and Brown Dwarfs

– Castel Gandolfo, Rome, Italia

• June 22 - 24 , 2007– Transformational Science with ALMA: Through Disks to Stars and

Planets

– Charlottesville, VA, USA

• June 24 - 29 , 2007– Extreme Solar Systems

– Santorini, Hellas

• July 17 - 20 , 2007– Bioastronomy 2007: Molecules, Microbes, and Extraterrestrial Life

– San Juan, Puerto Rico

• October 01 - 05 , 2007– From Planets to Dark Energy: the Modern Radio Universe

– Manchester, UK

• October 15 - 19 , 2007– IAU Symposium 248 : A Giant Step: From Milli- to Micro-arcsecond

Astrometry

– Shanghai, Popular Republic of China

• October 22 - 26 , 2007– IAU Symposium 249: Exoplanets: Detection, Formation and Dynamics

– Suzhou, Popular Republic of China

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IAU Colloquium 200

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Active ExoPlanet/Exosystem Observational Programs

• Radial velocity monitoring

• Transit searches

• Microlensing

• YSO’s, preplanetary and debris disks

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Recent Results for ExoSystems

• Many detections

• Rich variety of exosystems

• Multi-planet systems

• Lower masses

• Closer to solar system analogues

• Potentially Earth-like planets may be common

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Status of Major NASA ExoPlanet Missions

• Kepler - exoplanet study by transits– Statistics of short-period planets - down to Earth-size– In implementation

• SIM - exoplanet study by astrometry + astrophysics– Detection of nearby candidate Earth-like planets– In formulation– Advanced stage of engineering readiness– Currently delayed - engineering/prototyping/science preparation

continues

• TPF - exoplanet study by spectroscopy; astrophysics– Direct study of candidate Earth-like planets– In pre-formulation– Key (enabling) technical demonstrations completed in infrared

interferometry and visible coronagraphy– Currently deferred - technical/scientific development continues

Nav

igat

or

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Astronomy and Astrophysics Decade Review

2007 - 2010

AAAC ExoPlanet Task Force2006 - 2007

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The ExoPTF Charge (draft)

• This letter is to request that the AAAC establish an Exo-Planet Task Force as a subcommittee to jointly advise NSF and NASA on the future of the search for and study of exo-planets, planetary systems, Earth-like planets and habitable environments around other stars.

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The ExoPTF Charge (draft)

• The ExoPTF is asked to recommend a 15-year strategy to detect and characterize exo-planets and planetary systems, and their formation and evolution, including specifically the identification of nearby candidate Earth-like planets and study of their habitability. The strategy may include planning and preparation for facilities and missions beyond the 15-year horizon.

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The ExoPTF Charge (draft)1. The key scientific questions and issues, in the context of recent developments in exo-planet science

and planet formation;

2. Measurement techniques, their enabling technologies, and their implications for future survey and measurement directions and priorities;

3. Specific types of experiments (e.g., radial velocity measurements, transit searches, microlensing, adaptive optics, coronagraphy) with respect to their expected scientific return and contributions;

4. The potential and complementary science return from measurements at different wavelengths;

5. Major decision points in the exo-planet study process;

6. Important steps, precursor instrumentation on the ground or in space, R&D, and other work required in preparation for, in support of, or alternative to, these and related experiments and missions;

7. Identification of the nature and scope of investments in key technologies relevant to the scientific goals of the program;

8. The complementary ground-based and space-based research opportunities, coordination between funding agencies and possible synergistic advances;

9. Opportunities for cooperation, coordination or synergy with international programs, such as the Darwin mission at the European Space Agency, or the Ground-based European Nulling Interferometer Experiment (GENIE) and Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) projects at the European Southern Observatory;

10.Cost effectiveness and affordability.

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Notional Schedule

• Dec 2006 - First telecon, invite white papers, form working groups

• Jan 2007 - briefings and discussion• Mar 2007 - briefings and discussion• May 2007 - recommendations, report outline,

assignments• July 2007 - recommendations and writing• Sept 2007 - review, wordsmithing,

concurrence• Oct 2007 - deliver report