the search for extra-terrestrial unintelligence jonathan tennyson department of physics and...
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The Search for Extra-Terrestrial unIntelligence
Jonathan Tennyson
Department of Physics and Astronomy
University College London
"The two most common things in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity."
Harlan Ellison
Is there anybody out there?
Sagittarius Star Cloud / Hubble Space Telescope
At least 100 thousand million (1011 or 1012) stars in the milky wayAt least 100 thousand million (1011 or 1012) galaxies in the universe
Kepler (the mission)Kepler (the mission)
Earth-size planet transiting Sun-type star ~ 0.01 %
Kepler (NASA)launch 2009
Time (Gy)
Oxy
gen
1
0.1
0.01
0.001
0.0001
0.000014.5 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0
Multicell-
Humans
Invertebrates
Rye and Holland, 1998
Oxygen!!!
Eukaryotes
Prokaryotes
Methane ?
“ We will never know how to study by any means the chemical composition (of stars), or their mineralogical structure ”
Auguste Comte (1835)
EmissionAbsorption
Level 3
Level 2
Level 1
photon
photon
Ene
rgy
Jumping between energy levels in an atom or molecule
Direct observationDirect observation
109 photons in the VIS -> Coronagraph
106 photons in the IR -> Nulling interferometry
Direct observation of star GQ Lupiand its planet GQ Lupi b
Radial velocity / Occultation
Period = 3.524738 daysPeriod = 3.524738 days
Mass = 0.69 ±0.05 MMass = 0.69 ±0.05 MJupiterJupiter
Radius = 1.35 ±0.04 RRadius = 1.35 ±0.04 RJupiter Jupiter
Density = 0.35 ±0.05 g/cmDensity = 0.35 ±0.05 g/cm33
HD 209458bHD 209458b
Beaulieu et al., 2007
Knutson et al., 2007
Primary transit + IR + SpitzerPrimary transit + IR + Spitzer
Water, T-P at the terminator
Water line list: BT2
Barber et al., 2006
Tinetti et al., Nature, 444, 169 (2007)
Methane, plusConfirmation of
water and hazes!
Beaulieu et al., 2007
Knutson et al., 2007
Swain et al., 2007
Pont et al., 2007
Giovanna Tinetti, UCL
So far discovered:Water H2OMethane CH4 Carbon dioxide CO2
Carbon monoxide COHydrogen cyanide HCN
On HD189733bwith more to come
HD1897733b too hot for life
Transit huntersTransit hunters
Transits of objects down to Earth-size
COROT (CNES/ESA)launch Dec. 2006 (mission extended)25 transiting planets foundincluding 1 super-earth
Kepler (NASA)launch 6 March 2009. 3.5 year mission: 22 confirmed planets so far + >1200 candidates
NWO is a large-class Exoplanet mission that employs two spacecrafts: a “starshade” to suppress starlight
before it enters the telescope and a conventional telescope to detect and characterize exo-planets.
Cash, Nature, 2006
The New World Observer
Exoplanet Characterisation Observatory
Telescope Baffle
V-groove side sunshield
GaAs Solar Cells
Detectors
Service Module
1.5m silicon carbide mirror
Exoplanet Characterisation Observatory
• 1.2 to 1.5m dedicated telescope
• L2 halo orbit, direction anti-Sun
• Broadband spectral coverage from VIS to IR ( 0.4 to 16 µm )
• Maximum spectral resolution R=300
• 5 year mission
PI Giovanna Tinetti (UCL)
launch 2022?
A year in the life ofJuly 10 Talk WCGS Science Conference
July 10 European Space Agency (ESA) formal call for M3 missions
Oct 10 European Research Council (ERC) awards me 2.5 MEuros for ExoMol: Molecular line lists for exoplanet & other atmospheres
Nov 10 59 Expressions interest to ESA
Dec 10 43 Formal bids to ESA
Jan 11 13 bids selected (including EChO)
Feb 11 8 bids selected (including EChO)
March 11 4 bids selected for further study:
EChO, LOFT, MarcoPolo-R, STEQUEST
May 11 ExoMol project starts
June 11 UK Space Agency + PPARC select EChO as top priority
Future timelines (approximate)
2011-13 Specification and testing
2014 “Down selection”
2015-19 Instrument and satellite build
2019-21 Assembly and testing
2022 Launch ?