ExoVista: A Suite of Planetary System Models for Exoplanet Studies

Stark, Christopher C.

doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ac45f5

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…For each star in the target list generated above, we produced synthetic planetary systems using the open-source ExoVista tool 22 (https://github.com/alexrhowe/ExoVista). In this paper, we used a build of ExoVista Version 2.1 customized to replicate the AYO outputs.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scientific impact of a noiseless energy-resolving detector for a future exoplanet-imaging mission

Howe,

Stark,

Sadleir

2024

J. Astron. Telesc. Instrum. Syst.

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Future space missions that aim to detect and characterize Earth-like exoplanets will require an instrument that efficiently measures the spectra of these planets, placing strict requirements on detector performance. The upcoming Roman Space Telescope will demonstrate the performance of an electron-multiplying chargecoupled device as part of the coronagraphic instrument (CGI). The recent LUVOIR and HabEx studies baselined pairing such a detector with an integral field spectrograph to take spectra of multiple exoplanets and debris disks simultaneously. We investigate the scientific impact of a noiseless energy-resolving detector (ERD) for the planned Habitable Worlds Observatory's (HWO) CGI. By assuming higher quantum efficiency, higher optical throughput, and zero noise, we effectively place upper limits on the impact of advancing detector technologies. We find that ERDs would potentially take spectra of hundreds of additional exoplanets "for free" over the course of an HWO survey, greatly increasing its scientific yield.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scientific impact of a noiseless energy-resolving detector for a future exoplanet-imaging mission

Howe,

Stark,

Sadleir

2024

J. Astron. Telesc. Instrum. Syst.

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“…The first step in our simulation process is to generate astrophysical scenes of a synthetic solar system located at a distance of 10 pc using the exoVista package (Stark 2022). For this purpose, we use the generate_solarsystem routine provided by exoVista which simulates the solar system planets on temporally evolving orbits, including their varying reflected light spectra, as well as a static multicomponent exozodiacal dust disk.…”

Section: Synthetic Solar Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Here, we study our ability to subtract the exozodi at visible wavelengths in the 1e-10 contrast regime. To do so, we present simulations of coronagraphic observations of a synthetic solar system generated with the exoVista package 6 (Stark 2022). In our simulations, we explore different wave front errors, system distances, and telescope aperture sizes and quantitatively assess the contamination arising from the exozodi.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simulating Reflected Light Coronagraphy of Earth-like Exoplanets with a Large IR/O/UV Space Telescope: Impact and Calibration of Smooth Exozodiacal Dust

Kammerer

Stark

Ludwick

et al. 2022

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Observing Earth-like exoplanets orbiting within the habitable zone of Sun-like stars and studying their atmospheres in reflected starlight requires contrasts of ∼1e–10 in the visible. At such high contrast, starlight reflected by exozodiacal dust is expected to be a significant source of contamination. Here, we present high-fidelity simulations of coronagraphic observations of a synthetic solar system located at a distance of 10 pc and observed with a 12 m and an 8 m circumscribed aperture diameter space telescope operating at 500 nm wavelength. We explore different techniques to subtract the exozodi and stellar speckles from the simulated images in the face-on, the 30 deg inclined, and the 60 deg inclined case and quantify the remaining systematic noise as a function of the exozodiacal dust level of the system. We find that in the face-on case, the exozodi can be subtracted down to the photon noise limit for exozodi levels up to ∼1000 zodi using a simple toy model for the exozodiacal disk, whereas in the 60 deg inclined case this only works up to ∼50 zodi. We also investigate the impact of larger wave front errors and larger system distance, finding that while the former has no significant impact, the latter has a strong (negative) impact. Ultimately, we derive a penalty factor as a function of the exozodi level and system inclination that should be considered in exoplanet yield studies as a realistic estimate for the excess systematic noise from the exozodi.

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“…Previous work (Horning et al 2019) shows that even for the detection of a single planet, the precision with which its orbital parameters can be estimated is highly dependent on the observation cadence. Mission simulation tools such as EXOSIMS (Savransky & Garrett 2015) and exoVista (Stark 2022) are being used to optimize revisit times (Brown & Soummer 2010) in order to obtain accurate estimates of orbital parameters with a small number of observations. However, a "confusion" problem might arise when multiple planets with overlapping separations (Keithly & Savransky 2021) are detected around a star over several observation epochs, and when it is not obvious which detection corresponds to which planet (see Figure 1).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deconfusing Detections in Directly Imaged Multiplanet Systems*

Pogorelyuk

Fitzgerald

Vlahakis

et al. 2022

ApJ

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High-contrast images from future space-based telescopes may contain several planets from multiplanet systems and potentially a few planet-like speckles. When taken several months apart, the short-period planets and speckles will appear to move significantly, to the point that it might not be clear which point source (detection) in the image belongs to which object. In this work, we develop a tool, the deconfuser, to test quickly all the plausible partitions of detections by planets based on orbital mechanics. We then apply the deconfuser to a large set of simulated observations to estimate “confusion” rates, i.e., how often there are multiple distinct orbit combinations that describe the data well. We find that in the absence of missed and false detections, four observations are sufficient to avoid confusion, except for systems with high inclinations (above 75°). In future work, the deconfuser will be integrated into mission simulation tools, such as EXOSIMS, to assess the risk of confusion in missions such as the IR/O/UV large telescope recommended by the Astro2020 decadal survey.

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ExoVista: A Suite of Planetary System Models for Exoplanet Studies

Cited by 6 publications

References 42 publications

Scientific impact of a noiseless energy-resolving detector for a future exoplanet-imaging mission

Scientific impact of a noiseless energy-resolving detector for a future exoplanet-imaging mission

Simulating Reflected Light Coronagraphy of Earth-like Exoplanets with a Large IR/O/UV Space Telescope: Impact and Calibration of Smooth Exozodiacal Dust

Deconfusing Detections in Directly Imaged Multiplanet Systems*

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