BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//CERN//INDICO//EN
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:There’s more to life than O2: Assessing the detectability of bio
 signatures and environmental context for high-resolution spectroscopy of t
 errestrial exoplanets
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20220909T124500Z
DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20220909T130000Z
DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20240704T115924Z
UID:indico-contribution-131@meetings.aip.de
DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Miles Currie (University of Washington)\nThe upcomin
 g class of extremely large telescopes (ELTs) will provide an unprecedented
  opportunity to use high-resolution spectroscopy to characterize terrestri
 al exoplanets for habitability and life. In particular\, these telescopes 
 are likely the best near-term tools for detecting molecular oxygen in near
 by exoplanet atmospheres. However\, determining whether oxygen is more lik
 ely to have a biological origin requires contextual information from the p
 lanetary environment to support the identification and rule out false posi
 tives. Studies which investigate the ELTs’ capacity to detect other gase
 s can enhance the science return from these telescopes and expand our abil
 ities to search for signs of life. We have developed a novel pipeline to s
 imulate telescope observations and estimate the detectability of a suite o
 f gases—CH$_4$\, CO$_2$\, CO\, O$_3$\, and H$_2$O—that can help give c
 ontext to ELT O$_2$ detections in terrestrial exoplanet atmospheres. As in
 put\, we used a suite of photochemically self-consistent simulations of M 
 dwarf planets with modern/Archean Earth-like atmospheres\, and worlds with
  abiotic O$_2$ buildup due to photochemical generation and ocean loss proc
 esses. We find that CO$_2$ and CH$_4$ are two of the most detectable molec
 ules in M dwarf planetary atmospheres\, and may be detectable on TRAPPIST-
 1 e in less than 35 transits. This may be the only known biosignature pair
  accessible with ELT high-resolution spectroscopy for this target. However
 \, for closer targets\, the ELTs alone may be capable of discriminating an
  inhabited world from one without life with tens of hours of observation t
 ime under ideal conditions. Additionally\, we find the detectability of al
 l gases is strongly dependent on host star type—planets orbiting late-ty
 pe M dwarfs may require less overall observation time to achieve a signifi
 cant detection. Finally\, we develop an observing protocol that prioritize
 s the most detectable gas absorption bands to maximize the science output 
 of ELT observations\, and inform instrument development beyond the first l
 ight capabilities.\n\nhttps://meetings.aip.de/event/16/contributions/131/
LOCATION:Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) Lecture Hall
URL:https://meetings.aip.de/event/16/contributions/131/
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR