2018/07/26 by Defrère, D., Léger, A., Absil, O. +9
#Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP) #FOS: Physical sciences #Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM)
paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1807.09996
Proxima b is our nearest potentially rocky exoplanet and represents a formidable opportunity for exoplanet science and possibly astrobiology. With an angular separation of only 35~mas (or 0.05~AU) from its host star, Proxima b is however hardly observable with current imaging telescopes and future space-based coronagraphs. One way to separate the photons of the planet from those of its host star is to use an interferometer that can easily resolve such spatial scales. In addition, its proximity to Earth and its favorable contrast ratio compared with its host M dwarf (approximately 10-5 at 10 microns) makes it an ideal target for a space-based nulling interferometer with relatively small apertures. In this paper, we present the motivation for observing this planet in the mid-infrared (5-20 microns) and the corresponding technological challenges. Then, we describe the concept of a space-based infrared interferometer with relatively small (