General Astrophysics and Comparative Planetology with the Terrestrial Planet Finder Missions

Abstract

The two Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) missions aim to perform spectroscopy on extrasolar Earths; TPF-C will operate in visible light, and TPF-I will operate in the mid-infrared. Extrasolar Earths are assumed to be roughly 26 magnitude in V band, roughly 0.3 microJy in the mid-IR, and located as close as roughly 30 milliarcseconds from a reasonable set of target stars, demanding high sensitivity, angular resolution and dynamic range to study. With capabilities matched to this task, the TPF missions could easily undertake a broad range of further scientific investigations. This document discusses the potential of TPF for general astrophysics and comparative planetology beyond its base mission, focusing on science obtainable with no or minimal modifications to the mission design, but also exploring possible modifications to TPF with high scientific merit and no impact on the basic search for extrasolar Earth analogs. It addresses both TPF-C and TPF-I, but emphasizes TPF-C, because its launch is planned for 2015, while TPF-I s nominal launch date is in 2019. This document does not attempt to describe all of the astrophysics TPF will be capable of, only to present some highlights of a meeting held at Princeton University, April 14 15, 2004, and some discussions that followed from that meeting.