[Previous] | [Session 3] | [Next]

[3.03] Eclipse: a Discovery Mission for Direct Imaging of Nearby Planetary Systems

J. Trauger, A. Hull (JPL), D. Backman (F & M College), R. A. Brown (STScI), A. Burrows (U. Arizona), C. Burrows (MetaJiva), M. Ealey (Xinetics), C. Ftaclas (U. Hawaii), S. Heap (GSFC), J. Kasdin, M. Kuchner (Princeton), C. Lindensmith (JPL), J. Lunine (U. Arizona), G. Marcy (U. C. Berkeley), R. Sahai (JPL), D. Spergel (Princeton), K. Stapelfeldt (JPL), W. Traub (Harvard CfA), B. Woodgate (GSFC)

Eclipse is a proposed NASA Discovery mission to perform a sensitive imaging survey of nearby planetary systems, including a survey for jovian-sized planets orbiting Sun-like stars to distances of 15 pc.

Eclipse is a space telescope concept for high-contrast visible wavelength imaging and spectrophotometry. Its design incorporates a telescope with an unobscured aperture of 1.8 meters, a coronagraphic camera for suppression of diffracted light, and precise active wavefront correction for the suppression of scattered light. For reference, Eclipse is designed to reduce the diffracted and scattered starlight between 0.33 and 1.5 arcseconds from a star by three orders of magnitude compared to any HST instrument.

We describe the science objectives of the Eclipse mission and review recent demonstrations of key enabling technologies. The Eclipse mission provides precursor science exploration and technology experience in support of NASA's Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) program.

The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: john.trauger@jpl.nasa.gov

[Previous] | [Session 3] | [Next]

Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 35#5
© 2003. The American Astronomical Soceity.