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arXiv · 2103.11196

PCS -- A Roadmap for Exoearth Imaging with the ELT

Markus Kasper·Nelly Cerpa Urra·Prashant Pathak·Markus Bonse·Jalo Nousiainen·Byron Engler·Cédric Taïssir Heritier·Jens Kammerer·Serban Leveratto·Chang Rajani·Paul Bristow·Miska Le Louarn·Pierre-Yves Madec·Stefan Ströbele·Christophe Verinaud·Adrian Glauser·Sascha P. Quanz·Tapio Helin·Christoph Keller·Frans Snik·Anthony Boccaletti·Gaël Chauvin·David Mouillet·Caroline Kulcsár·Henri-François Raynaud
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Abstract

The Planetary Camera and Spectrograph (PCS) for the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) will be dedicated to detecting and characterising nearby exoplanets with sizes from sub-Neptune to Earth-size in the neighbourhood of the Sun. This goal is achieved by a combination of eXtreme Adaptive Optics (XAO), coronagraphy and spectroscopy. PCS will allow us not only to take images, but also to look for biosignatures such as molecular oxygen in the exoplanets' atmospheres. This article describes the PCS primary science goals, the instrument concept and the research and development activities that will be carried out over the coming years.

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Markus Kasper, Nelly Cerpa Urra, Prashant Pathak, Markus Bonse, Jalo Nousiainen, Byron Engler, Cédric Taïssir Heritier, Jens Kammerer, Serban Leveratto, Chang Rajani, Paul Bristow, Miska Le Louarn, Pierre-Yves Madec, Stefan Ströbele, Christophe Verinaud, Adrian Glauser, Sascha P. Quanz, Tapio Helin, Christoph Keller, Frans Snik, Anthony Boccaletti, Gaël Chauvin, David Mouillet, Caroline Kulcsár, Henri-François Raynaud. 2021-03-20. PCS -- A Roadmap for Exoearth Imaging with the ELT. https://doi.org/10.18727/0722-6691/5221

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