ExoPlanet Task Force ExoPTF

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Exo-Planet Task Force (ExoPTF)

• Stephen Ridgway (NASA)
• Dana Lehr, Michael Briley (NSF)
• Garth Illingworth (AAAC)

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Publications and Planets
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One year of ExoPlanet Conferences

• October 16 - 18 , 2006
• 6th workshop of the European Astrobiology Network
  Association
• Lyon, France
• October 23 - 27 , 2006
• From Brown Dwarfs to Planets
• Leiden, Neederland
• November 06 - 10 , 2006
• TPF/Darwin Workshop
• Pasadena, CA, USA
• December 04 - 08 , 2006
• Disks, Winds, and Jets From Planets to Quasars
• Mount Stromlo Observatory, Canberra, Australia
• December 27 , 2006 - January 05 , 2007
• The Lives of Low-Mass Stars and their Planetary
  Systems
• Jerusalem, Israel
• January 05 - 06 , 2007
• Evolution and Exploration of Solar Systems
• Irvine, CA, USA
• January 07 - 11 , 2007

• April 11 - 14 , 2007
• From Stars to Planets Connecting our
  Understanding of Star and Planet Formation
• Gainesville, FL, USA
• May 28 - June 08 , 2007
• Summer School Circumstellar Disks and Planets at
  Very High Angular Resolution
• Porto, Portugal
• June 09 - July 06 , 2007
• Summer School on Extrasolar Planets and Brown
  Dwarfs
• Castel Gandolfo, Rome, Italia
• June 22 - 24 , 2007
• Transformational Science with ALMA Through Disks
  to Stars and Planets
• Charlottesville, VA, USA
• June 24 - 29 , 2007
• Extreme Solar Systems
• Santorini, Hellas
• July 17 - 20 , 2007
• Bioastronomy 2007 Molecules, Microbes, and
  Extraterrestrial Life
• San Juan, Puerto Rico
• October 01 - 05 , 2007

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IAU Colloquium 200
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Active ExoPlanet/Exosystem Observational Programs

• Radial velocity monitoring
• Transit searches
• Microlensing
• YSOs, preplanetary and debris disks

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Recent Results for ExoSystems

• Many detections
• Rich variety of exosystems
• Multi-planet systems
• Lower masses
• Closer to solar system analogues
• Potentially Earth-like planets may be common

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Status of Major NASA ExoPlanet Missions

• Kepler - exoplanet study by transits
• Statistics of short-period planets - down to
  Earth-size
• In implementation
• SIM - exoplanet study by astrometry
  astrophysics
• Detection of nearby candidate Earth-like planets
• In formulation
• Advanced stage of engineering readiness
• Currently delayed - engineering/prototyping/scienc
  e 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

Navigator
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Astronomy and Astrophysics Decade Review2007 -
2010
AAAC ExoPlanet Task Force2006 - 2007
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The ExoPTF 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.

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The ExoPTF Charge (draft)

• The ExoPTF 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.

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The ExoPTF Charge (draft)

• 1. The key scientific questions and issues, in
  the context of recent developments in exo-planet
  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, RD, 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.

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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