1. Planet Formation Imager (PFI): Science Vision and Key Requirements
- Author
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Stefan Kraus, John D Monnier, Michael J Ireland, Gaspard Duchene, Catherine Espaillat, Sebastian Hoenig, Attila Juhasz, Chris Mordasini, Johan Olofsson, Claudia Paladini, Keivan Stassun, Neal Turner, Gautam Vasisht, Tim J Harries, Matthew R Bate, Jean-Francois Gonzalez, Alexis Matter, Zhaohuan Zhu, Olja Panic, Zsolt Regaly, Alessandro Morbidelli, Farzana Meru, Sebastian Wolf, John Ilee, Jean-Philippe Berger, Ming Zhao, Quentin Kral, Andreas Morlok, Amy Bonsor, David Ciardi, Stephen R Kane, Kaitlin Kratter, Greg Laughlin, Joshua Pepper, Sean N Raymond, Lucas Labadie, Richard P Nelson, Gerd Weigelt, Theo ten Brummelaar, Arnaud Pierens, Rene Oudmaijer, Wilhelm Kley, Benjamin Pope, Eric L N Jensen, Amelia Bayo, Michael Smith, Tabetha Boyajian, Luis Henry Quiroga-Nuñez, Rafael Millan-Gabet, Andrea Chiavassa, Alexandre Gallenne, Mark Reynolds, Willem-Jan de Wit, Markus Wittkowski, Florentin Millour, Poshak Gandhi, Cristina Ramos Almeida, Almudena Alonso Herrero, Chris Packham, Makoto Kishimoto, Konrad R W Tristram, Jorg-Uwe Pott, Jean Surdej, David Buscher, Chris Haniff, Sylvestre Lacour, Romain Petrov, Steve Ridgway, Peter Tuthill, Gerard van Belle, Phil Armitage, Clement Baruteau, Myriam Benisty, Bertram Bitsch, Sijme-Jan Paardekooper, Christophe Pinte, Frederic Masset, and Giovanni P Rosotti
- Subjects
Lunar and Planetary Science and Exploration - Abstract
The Planet Formation Imager (PFI) project aims to provide a strong scientific vision for ground-based optical astronomy beyond the upcoming generation of Extremely Large Telescopes. We make the case that a breakthrough in angular resolution imaging capabilities is required in order to unravel the processes involved in planet formation. PFI will be optimised to provide a complete census of the protoplanet population at all stellocentric radii and over the age range from 0.1 to ~ 100 Myr. Within this age period, planetary systems undergo dramatic changes and the final architecture of planetary systems is determined. Our goal is to study the planetary birth on the natural spatial scale where the material is assembled, which is the “Hill Sphere” of the forming planet, and to characterise the protoplanetary cores by measuring their masses and physical properties. Our science working group has investigated the observational characteristics of these young protoplanets as well as the migration mechanisms that might alter the system architecture. We simulated the imprints that the planets leave in the disk and study how PFI could revolutionise areas ranging from exoplanet to extragalactic science. In this contribution we outline the key science drivers of PFI and discuss the requirements that will guide the technology choices, the site selection, and potential science/technology tradeoffs.
- Published
- 2016
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