CAREER: Searching For Biosignatures in Exoplanet Atmospheres

该奖项全部或部分根据2021年美国救援计划法案（公法117-2）资助。未来几代天文学家的关键科学目标之一将是寻找其他世界上的生命迹象（生物特征）。两个美国ELT和美国ELT关键科学计划将确保美国天文学界在未来十年参与寻找生物特征。然而，即使ELT建成，仍需要克服几个技术障碍，因为在角距和星光抑制方面，该社区距离直接成像可居住行星还有几个数量级的距离。该计划将开发一种新的仪器概念，将解决这些问题：双孔径光纤零器。开发的概念验证仪器最终将安装到大型双目望远镜（LBT）上，作为美国ELT计划中未来仪器的探路者仪器。外联工作将包括在科学与工业中心（COSI）和俄勒冈州立大学举办一系列活动，以庆祝系外行星的发现以及由此产生的2019年诺贝尔奖。这些活动将包括一个以系外行星为主题的“黑夜之后”，诺贝尔奖得主的公开讲座，一个新开发的天文馆展览和一个系外行星展览。这些材料将被带给俄亥俄州农村的学生。该实验室演示将：（1）有助于更好地了解系统吞吐量的误差预算，并确定需要改进的关键领域;（2）与ELT直接光谱学的其他领先概念进行比较;以及（3）开发一个测试平台，为ELT的高对比度仪器奠定基础。该设计参考研究的一个结果是实际地估计在LBT上部署测试台仪器的时间尺度。这种新仪器可以成为解决ELT生物特征搜索技术障碍的垫脚石，例如亚λ/D分辨率的冠状照相术和衍射限制的阶梯光谱学。与此同时，该团队将开发一个光谱建模框架，以应对推断行星大气特性的挑战：（1）根据地面实况对性能进行基准测试;（2）将该框架应用于直接成像的系外行星;（3）处理光谱分辨率不同的数据集。（10 R100，000）和波长覆盖;以及（4）这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为是值得通过评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). One of the key science objectives for coming generations of astronomers will be the search for signs of life (biosignatures) on other worlds. The two US-based ELTs and the US ELT Key Science Programs will ensure the US astronomy community's involvement in searching for biosignatures in the coming decade. However, even when the ELTs are constructed, several technological hurdles need to be overcome because the community is still orders of magnitude away from directly imaging habitable planets in terms of angular separation and starlight suppression. This program will develop a novel instrument concept that will address these problems: a dual-aperture fiber nuller. The proof-of-concept instrument developed will eventually be mounted to the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) as a pathfinder instrument for future instrument in the US ELT program. Outreach work will include a series of events at the Center of Science and Industry (COSI) and OSU to celebrate exoplanet discoveries and the resulting Nobel Prize in 2019. The events will include an exoplanet-themed After Dark Night, public lectures featuring Nobel Prize winners, a newly-developed planetarium show, and an exoplanet exhibition. This material will be brought to students in rural Ohio. This laboratory demonstration will: (1) help to better understand the error budget in system throughput and identify key areas for improvement; (2) compare with other leading concepts for direct spectroscopy with ELTs; and (3) develop a testbed that sets the stage for high-contrast instruments for ELTs. One outcome of this design reference study is to realistically estimate a timescale for deployment of the testbed instrument on the LBT. The new instrument can be a stepping stone to address technological hurdles to the search for biosignatures with ELTs such as coronagraphy at sub lambda/D resolution and diffraction-limited echelle spectroscopy. In parallel, the team will develop a spectral modeling framework to address challenges in inferring properties of planet atmospheres: (1) benchmarking performance against ground truth; (2) applying the framework to directly-imaged exoplanets; (3) dealing with data sets that vary in spectral resolution (10R100,000) and wavelength coverage; and (4) extending from gas giant planets to small rocky planets.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.