Testbed have demonstrated that they can separate light as faint as that from a distant Earth-like planet from the blinding glare of its parent star. This breakthrough represents a major step toward the ultimate goal of the Terrestrial Planet Finder missions: observing habitable planets around nearby stars.
"The challenge in detecting an Earth-like planet is that the planet is a million times fainter than the host star when viewed in infrared light," said Dan Coulter, project manager for the Terrestrial Planet Finder Interferometer (TPF-I). "By simulating these conditions on the testbed, we've shown that the flight instrument has the sensitivity needed to suppress the light from the central star, and to observe a planet in the habitable zone." The habitable zone is the region around the system's star where the temperature is right to sustain liquid water, considered an essential ingredient for life.
The Planet Detection Testbed works by suppressing the light from the star, while allowing the planet's light to pass through and reach the detector, said Stefan Martin, the testbed lead engineer.
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Full Story
http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/TPF/detectionMilestone.cfm
Sir Ulli
"The challenge in detecting an Earth-like planet is that the planet is a million times fainter than the host star when viewed in infrared light," said Dan Coulter, project manager for the Terrestrial Planet Finder Interferometer (TPF-I). "By simulating these conditions on the testbed, we've shown that the flight instrument has the sensitivity needed to suppress the light from the central star, and to observe a planet in the habitable zone." The habitable zone is the region around the system's star where the temperature is right to sustain liquid water, considered an essential ingredient for life.
The Planet Detection Testbed works by suppressing the light from the star, while allowing the planet's light to pass through and reach the detector, said Stefan Martin, the testbed lead engineer.
...
Full Story
http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/TPF/detectionMilestone.cfm
Sir Ulli
