HabEx Space Telescope: Instruments and Capabilities.
Abstract
The Habitable Exoplanet Observatory (HabEx) is one of four major observatory missions that have been extensively studied in preparation for the National Academies' 2020 Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics. HabEx is a space telescope with a 4 m diameter primary mirror, carrying a complement of two general astrophysics camera/spectrographs with coverage from the far UV to the near infrared, providing the capability for a huge range of general astrophysics science from solar system science to the life cycle of baryons in the universe at large. General astrophysics observations will claim 50% of the mission time. HabEx also carries two instruments capable of extraordinary exoplanet science. The first is a high performance coronagraph suitable for survey observations of the nearest stars, allowing portraits of the nearest systems to be built up, together with orbital information. Specific system-level engineering design decisions permit high contrast coronagraphy at the 10-10 contrast level. The second exoplanet instrument is a formation flying occulter, consisting of a 52 m diameter starshade deployed from a second launch vehicle and flying some tens of megameters in front of the telescope. The starshade forms an instrument complementary to the coronagraph and will be used for broad band spectral observations of the systems identified in survey mode. The starshade benefits from the current technology development activities being undertaken by NASA, with an eye to WFIRST, to bring starshade readiness up to TRL5. The information given here is provided for planning and discussion purposes only. This work was conducted at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Copyright 2019 California Institute of Technology. Government sponsorship acknowledged. All rights reserved. CL#19-6417.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #235
- Pub Date:
- January 2020
- Bibcode:
- 2020AAS...23528007M