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SIM
PlanetQuest
Mission
SIM
PlanetQuest,
scheduled
for launch
within the
next
decade,
will be
the most
powerful
planet-hunting
space
telescope
ever
devised.
Using two
separated
mirrors
and
combining
their
light with
a
technique
known as
interferometry,
SIM
PlanetQuest
will able
to detect
planets as
small as
Earth.
These are
the kind
of planets
that
scientists
believe
have the
most
potential
to support
life.
Although
more than
160
planets
have been
discovered
beyond our
solar
system
since
1995, the
"holy
grail"
-
Earthlike
planets
located in
the
habitable
zone -
remains
beyond the
reach of
current
telescopes.
SIM
PlanetQuest
will
perform
the first
census of
nearby
Earth-like
planets by
observing
the
"wobble"
in each
parent
star's
apparent
motion as
the planet
orbits, to
an
accuracy
of one
millionth
of an
arcsecond.
The SIM
PlanetQuest
study of
neighboring
planetary
systems
will set
the stage
for future
space
telescopes,
like
Terrestrial
Planet
Finder,
that will
be able to
directly
image
these
distant
worlds,
and probe
their
atmospheres
for the
signatures
of life. |
