Exo-Planet Task Force Exo PTF Stephen Ridgway NASA

Exo-Planet Task Force (Exo. PTF) Stephen Ridgway (NASA) Dana Lehr, Michael Briley (NSF) Garth Illingworth (AAAC) S. Ridgway - AAAC - 10/12/06

Publications and Planets S. Ridgway - AAAC - 10/12/06 2

One year of Exo. Planet Conferences • – – • TPF/Darwin Workshop Pasadena, CA, USA • • – March 05 - 08 , 2007 – – ESO Workshop on Observing Planetary Systems Santiago, Chile • From Planets to Dark Energy: the Modern Radio Universe Manchester, UK October 15 - 19 , 2007 – Winter School on Extrasolar Planets & Astrobiology Split, Hrvatska Bioastronomy 2007: Molecules, Microbes, and Extraterrestrial Life San Juan, Puerto Rico October 01 - 05 , 2007 – – • Gravitational Microlensing Workshop Daejeon, Republic of Korea Extreme Solar Systems Santorini, Hellas July 17 - 20 , 2007 – February 19 - March 03 , 2007 – – • 209 th AAS Meeting Formation and Detection of Habitable Planets session Next Generation Radial Velocity Planet Surveys session Seattle, WA, USA January 15 - 17 , 2007 – – • Evolution and Exploration of Solar Systems Irvine, CA, USA Transformational Science with ALMA: Through Disks to Stars and Planets Charlottesville, VA, USA June 24 - 29 , 2007 – – January 07 - 11 , 2007 – – • January 05 - 06 , 2007 – – • The Lives of Low-Mass Stars and their Planetary Systems Jerusalem, Israel Summer School on Extrasolar Planets and Brown Dwarfs Castel Gandolfo, Rome, Italia June 22 - 24 , 2007 – December 27 , 2006 - January 05 , 2007 – – • • Summer School: Circumstellar Disks and Planets at Very High Angular Resolution Porto, Portugal June 09 - July 06 , 2007 – – Disks, Winds, and Jets: From Planets to Quasars Mount Stromlo Observatory, Canberra, Australia From Stars to Planets: Connecting our Understanding of Star and Planet Formation Gainesville, FL, USA May 28 - June 08 , 2007 – From Brown Dwarfs to Planets Leiden, Neederland December 04 - 08 , 2006 – – – • November 06 - 10 , 2006 – – April 11 - 14 , 2007 – 6 th workshop of the European Astrobiology Network Association Lyon, France October 23 - 27 , 2006 – – • • October 16 - 18 , 2006 IAU Symposium 248 : A Giant Step: From Milli- to Microarcsecond Astrometry Shanghai, Popular Republic of China October 22 - 26 , 2007 – – IAU Symposium 249: Exoplanets: Detection, Formation and Dynamics Suzhou, Popular Republic of China S. Ridgway - AAAC - 10/12/06 3

IAU Colloquium 200 S. Ridgway - AAAC - 10/12/06 4

Active Exo. Planet/Exosystem Observational Programs • • Radial velocity monitoring Transit searches Microlensing YSO’s, preplanetary and debris disks S. Ridgway - AAAC - 10/12/06 5

Recent Results for Exo. Systems • • • Many detections Rich variety of exosystems Multi-planet systems Lower masses Closer to solar system analogues Potentially Earth-like planets may be common S. Ridgway - AAAC - 10/12/06 6

Status of Major NASA Exo. Planet Missions • Kepler - exoplanet study by transits – Statistics of short-period planets - down to Earth-size – In implementation Navigator • 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 S. Ridgway - AAAC - 10/12/06 7

AAAC Exo. Planet Task Force 2006 - 2007 Astronomy and Astrophysics Decade Review 2007 - 2010 S. Ridgway - AAAC - 10/12/06 8

The Exo. PTF 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. S. Ridgway - AAAC - 10/12/06 9

The Exo. PTF Charge (draft) • The Exo. PTF 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. S. Ridgway - AAAC - 10/12/06 10

The Exo. PTF Charge (draft) 1. The key scientific questions and issues, in the context of recent developments in exoplanet 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. S. Ridgway - AAAC - 10/12/06 11

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 S. Ridgway - AAAC - 10/12/06 12