Enhanced exoplanet biosignature detection from an interferometer addition to low resolution spectrographs

David J. Erskine; Philip S. Muirhead; Andrew M. Vanderburg; Andrew Szentgyorgyi

doi:10.1117/12.2303586

6 July 2018 Enhanced exoplanet biosignature detection from an interferometer addition to low resolution spectrographs

David J. Erskine, Philip S. Muirhead, Andrew M. Vanderburg, Andrew Szentgyorgyi

Proceedings Volume 10702, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy VII; 107024G (2018) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2303586
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2018, Austin, Texas, United States

Abstract

The physics of molecular vibration causes absorption spectra of atmospheric molecules to be a group of approximately periodic fine lines. This is fortuitous for detecting exoplanet biosignificant molecules, since it approximately matches the periodic sinusoidal transmission of an interferometer. The series addition of a 0.6 cm interferometer with a dispersive spectrograph creates moire patterns. These enhance detection by several orders of magnitude for initially low resolution spectrographs. We simulate the Gemini Planet Imager integral field spectrograph observing a telluric spectrum of native resolutions 40 and 70 for 1.65 and 2 micron bands– too low to resolve the fine lines. The interferometer addition increases the detectability of the molecular signal, relative to photon noise, to a level similar to a R=4400 (at 1.65 micron) or R=3900 (at 2 micron) spectrograph.

Citation Download Citation

David J. Erskine, Philip S. Muirhead, Andrew M. Vanderburg, and Andrew Szentgyorgyi "Enhanced exoplanet biosignature detection from an interferometer addition to low resolution spectrographs", Proc. SPIE 10702, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy VII, 107024G (6 July 2018); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2303586

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available