Large Interferometer For Exoplanets (LIFE) is a project started in 2017 to develop the science, technology and a roadmap for a space mission to detect and characterize the atmospheres of dozens of warm, terrestrial

extrasolar planet An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet outside the Solar System. The first confirmed detection of an exoplanet was in 1992 around a pulsar, and the first detection around a main-sequence star was in 1995. A different planet, first detect ...

s. The current plan is for a

nulling interferometer A nuller is an optical tool used to block a strong source so that fainter signals near that source can be observed. An example of a nuller is being employed on the Keck Interferometer. This causes the light from a star to destructively interfere, ...

operating in the

mid-infrared Infrared (IR; sometimes called infrared light) is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than that of visible light but shorter than microwaves. The infrared spectral band begins with the waves that are just longer than those of ...

. The LIFE space observatory concept is different from previous space missions, which covered a similar wavelength regime in the mid-infrared (MIR). This includes recent missions such as

James Webb Space Telescope The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a space telescope designed to conduct infrared astronomy. As the largest telescope in space, it is equipped with high-resolution and high-sensitivity instruments, allowing it to view objects too old, Lis ...

Spitzer Space Telescope The Spitzer Space Telescope, formerly the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF), was an infrared space telescope launched in 2003, that was deactivated when operations ended on 30 January 2020. Spitzer was the third space telescope dedicate ...

, and older missions such as

ISO The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ; ; ) is an independent, non-governmental, international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. Me ...

IRAS The Infrared Astronomical Satellite (Dutch language, Dutch: ''Infrarood Astronomische Satelliet'') (IRAS) was the first space telescope to perform a astronomical survey, survey of the entire night sky at infrared wavelengths. Launched on 25 Janu ...

, and AKARI.

Atmospheric Biosignatures

When present in sufficient quantities in the atmosphere, chemicals that are indicators of life are known as atmospheric biomarkers. The LIFE Mission is designed to observe in the mid-infrared light, where many of these molecules show spectral features.

LIFE research papers

# Improved exoplanet detection yield estimates for a large mid-infrared space-interferometer mission # Signal simulation, signal extraction and fundamental exoplanet parameters from single epoch observations # Spectral resolution, wavelength range and sensitivity requirements based on atmospheric retrieval analyses of an exo-Earth # Diagnostic potential of a mid-infrared space-interferometer for studying Earth analogs # Ideal kernel-nulling array architectures for a space-based mid-infrared nulling interferometer # Practical implementation of a kernel-nulling beam combiner with a discussion on instrumental uncertainties and redundancy benefits

References

External links

Exoplanet science with a space-based mid-infrared nulling interferometer
Sascha P. Quanz, Jens Kammerer, Denis Defrère, Olivier Absil, Adrian M. Glauser, Daniel Kitzmann, 9 Aug 2018

Atmospheric Biosignatures

LIFE research papers

References

External links

See also