LIFE
Large Interferometer for Exoplanets
What LIFE is
What kind of telescope do we need to find life on planets out-side of our solar system within our lifetime? One way is to cleverly combine the light collected by many telescopes to separate the signal of the planet from the light of its much brighter host star. This technique is called interferometry. Mid-Infrared radiation - that is light beyond the red, invisible to human eyes - is interesting for this case, since it can show fingerprints of life on these planets, so-called biomarkers. To measure this kind of signature, the telescope has to be in space. In our group at ETH we work on the LIFE mission concept (a mid-infrared space telescope interferometer) that will be able to detect our nearest neighbor planets, understand their diversity and search for indications of biological activity. LIFE will help us to answer the question: “Are we alone in the Universe?”.
LIFE is a project initiated in 2017 and officially kicked-off in 2018 to develop the science, technology and a roadmap for an ambitious space mission that will allow humankind for the first time to detect and characterize the atmospheres of dozens of warm, terrestrial extrasolar planets. Thanks to NASA's Kepler mission and dedicated, long-term exoplanet searches from the ground, we know that rocky exoplanets are ubiquitous in the Milky Way and very likely also in the immediate Solar neighbourhood. Detecting these nearest planets, understanding the (atmospheric) diversity of other worlds and searching for indications of habitability and biological activity is a cornerstone of 21st century astrophysics and will provide us a new perspective on our place in this vast Cosmos.
LIFE Space Mission
external page LIFEWhy we are doing this
LIFE shall obtain thermal emission spectra with sufficient spectral resolution, wavelength coverage and sensitivity to investigate at least 30 (requirement) / 50 (goal) extrasolar planets with radii between 0.5 and 1.5 Earth radii and receiving between 0.35 and 1.7 times the insolation of the Earth in order to assess their diversity, habitability and search for biomarkers. The sample shall be roughly equally split between planets orbiting late K to early M-type stars and planets orbiting late F to early K-type stars.
References to accepted and/or in prep. Papers
2020:
"Exoplanet detection yield of a space-based Bracewell interferometer from small to medium satellites", Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems, 6(3), 035004, Dandumont et al. (2020)
2019:
"Atmospheric characterization of terrestrial exoplanets in the mid-infrared: biosignatures, habitability & diversity", submitted to ESA in response to the Call for White Papers for the Voyage 2050 long-term plan, Quanz et al. (2019)
"Direct imaging of molten protoplanets in nearby young stellar associations", Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 621, id.A 125, Bonati et al. (2019)
2018:
"Exoplanet science with a space-based mid-infrared nulling interferometer", Proc. SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation 2018 (Austin, Texas), Optical and Infrared Interferometry and Imaging VI, Quanz et al. (2018)
"Characterizing the atmosphere of Proxima b with a space-based mid-infrared nulling interferometer", Proc. SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation 2018 (Austin, Texas), Optical and Infrared Interferometry and Imaging VI, Defrere et al. (2018b)
"Space-based infrared interferometry to study exoplanetary atmospheres", Experimental Astronomy, Defrere et al. (2018a)
"Simulating the exoplanet yield of a space-based mid-infrared interferometer based on Kepler statistics", Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 609, id.A4, Kammerer & Quanz (2018)
