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Exoplanet Search and Characterization with the Proposed POET Canadian Space Mission

S. Metchev, J. Rowe, P. Miles-Páez, K. Hoffman, S. Lambier, R. Cloutier, H. Ishikawa, JJ Kavelaars, M. Kunimoto, D. Lafrenière, C. Lovekin, E. Pilles, J. Ruan, J. Sabarinathan, G. Wade, P. Wiegert, F. Grandmont, A. -S. Poulin-Girard, S. Grocott, R. Zee, J. Dupuis, P. Langlois, J. Roediger

Abstract

The Photometric Observations of Exoplanet Transits (POET) is a proposed micro-satellite mission dedicated to the characterization and discovery of transiting exoplanets. POET has been identified as a top priority small-sat space mission in the Canadian Astronomy Long Range Plan 2020-2030. POET is being proposed as Canada's next astronomy space mission, with launch possible in late 2029. POET is an iteration on the designs of the Canadian MOST and NEOSSat space missions, which had 15 cm-sized telescopes and observed only in the visible band pass. POET will have a larger 20 cm telescope aperture and three band passes: near-ultraviolet (nUV; 300-400 nm), visible near-infrared (VNIR; 400-900 nm), and short-wavelength infrared (SWIR; 900-1700 nm). All mission components either already have significant space heritage or are seeing rapid adoption in commercial space missions. POET's simultaneous tri-band 300-1700 nm photometric monitoring will allow it to separate the impact of star spots on the transmission spectrum of extended atmospheres on super-Earth or larger exoplanets. POET's SWIR band is optimally sensitive to the emission peak of ultracool dwarf stars and would enable a systematic search for Earth-sized planets around them. POET aims to discover some of the nearest potentially habitable Earth-sized exoplanets that could be scrutinized for biosignatures with JWST or future telescopes. Herein we present the assembly of the POET Input Catalog of Ultracool Dwarfs and simulations of the expected yield of rocky planets with POET.

Exoplanet Search and Characterization with the Proposed POET Canadian Space Mission

Abstract

The Photometric Observations of Exoplanet Transits (POET) is a proposed micro-satellite mission dedicated to the characterization and discovery of transiting exoplanets. POET has been identified as a top priority small-sat space mission in the Canadian Astronomy Long Range Plan 2020-2030. POET is being proposed as Canada's next astronomy space mission, with launch possible in late 2029. POET is an iteration on the designs of the Canadian MOST and NEOSSat space missions, which had 15 cm-sized telescopes and observed only in the visible band pass. POET will have a larger 20 cm telescope aperture and three band passes: near-ultraviolet (nUV; 300-400 nm), visible near-infrared (VNIR; 400-900 nm), and short-wavelength infrared (SWIR; 900-1700 nm). All mission components either already have significant space heritage or are seeing rapid adoption in commercial space missions. POET's simultaneous tri-band 300-1700 nm photometric monitoring will allow it to separate the impact of star spots on the transmission spectrum of extended atmospheres on super-Earth or larger exoplanets. POET's SWIR band is optimally sensitive to the emission peak of ultracool dwarf stars and would enable a systematic search for Earth-sized planets around them. POET aims to discover some of the nearest potentially habitable Earth-sized exoplanets that could be scrutinized for biosignatures with JWST or future telescopes. Herein we present the assembly of the POET Input Catalog of Ultracool Dwarfs and simulations of the expected yield of rocky planets with POET.

Paper Structure

This paper contains 9 sections, 1 equation, 8 figures.

Table of Contents

  1. INTRODUCTION
  2. TARGET SELECTION FOR ROCKY EXOPLANET DETECTION
  3. Optimizing for Equator-on Viewing Geometry
  4. Selection of the POET Input Catalog of Ultracool Dwarfs
  5. SIMULATIONS OF ROCKY PLANET DISCOVERIES WITH POET
  6. Transit Detection Sensitivity Projections
  7. Detectability of Transiting Rocky Planets
  8. Anticipated Yield
  9. DISCUSSION and CONCLUSIONS

Figures (8)

  • Figure 1: Selection of the POET Input Catalog of Ultracool Dwarfs via Gaia DR3 and 2MASS $J$-band photometry and parallax.
  • Figure 2: Elimination of candidate binary stars from the initial sample by removing stars 0.38 mag above an empirical fit to the main sequence. The resulting sample of 3245 candidate single stars (red) is the POET Input Catalog of Ultracool Dwarfs.
  • Figure 3: Determination of best-fit stellar parameters (effective temperature $T_{\rm eff}$, surface gravity $g$, stellar radius $R$) from a photospheric model fit to multi-wavelength photometry.suarez_etal25
  • Figure 4: Discovery of a 3.96-day period in low-SNR data from TESS of the $T = 14.4$ mag M7 dwarf LP 869-1miles-paez_etal23.
  • Figure 5: Comparative performance in the attained S/N on $T_{\rm eff}$ = 2500 K (blue; spectral type M8) and $T_{\rm eff}$ = 1500 K (orange; spectral type L6) dwarfs for SWIR (dashed lines) and VNIR (solid lines) as a function of Gaia $G$ magnitude. The SWIR is advantageous for brighter ($G<16$ mag) objects by up to a factor of 8 for the colder (1500 K) ultracool dwarfs, but does not offer advantages on the warmer (2500 K) ultracool dwarfs at faint magnitudes.
  • ...and 3 more figures