Exploring Exoplanets with Interferometry

arXiv:2606.10108 · astro-ph.IM, astro-ph.EP, physics.ins-det · Submitted 2026-06-08 · Read on arXiv

Sascha P. Quanz, Bertrand Mennesson, Charles Beichman, Jonah T. Hansen, Felix A. Dannert, Andrea Fortier, Michael Ireland, Nicholas Beltsten, Eleonora Alei, Leonid Pogorelyuk, William O. Balmer, Denis Defrère, Gautam Vasisht, Malcolm Fridlund, Romain Laugier, Tiffany Kataria, Eugene Serabyn, Steve Ertel, Hélène Rousseau, Kevin Wagner, Rhonda Morgan, Gerard T. van Belle, Gail H. Schaefer, Jean-Philippe Berger, Taro Matsuo, Ewan Douglas, John D. Monnier, Adrian M. Glauser, Dimitri Mawet, Michael R. Meyer

astro-ph.IM, astro-ph.EP, physics.ins-det

Submitted: 2026-06-08

Comments: KISS (Keck Institute for Space Studies) Workshop Study Report; Study Leads: S.P. Quanz, B. Mennesson, C. Beichmann; Participant/co-author list in arbitrary order

DOI: 10.26206/fhtk0-75f72

Code: https://github.com/rlaugier/nifits

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

The gist: (Extract from the Executive Summary) Humanity stands at the threshold of answering one of its most profound questions: Does life exist beyond Earth? Ongoing and upcoming space missions, together with

Terminology

Aperture — 32× in this paper · explained in 1 episode
Large Interferometer For Exoplanets — 18× in this paper
Microlensing — 8× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
Abundance — 7× in this paper · explained in 1 episode
Calibration — 7× in this paper · explained in 7 episodes
Habitable Worlds Observatory — 6× in this paper
Very Large Telescope Interferometer — 6× in this paper
Core — 5× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
European Space Agency — 5× in this paper
American Astronomical Society — 4× in this paper
Keck Institute for Space Studies — 4× in this paper
Planet Formation Imager — 4× in this paper
AGN — 3× in this paper · explained in 1 episode
Accuracy — 3× in this paper · explained in 1 episode
EMMA — 3× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
Infrared Optical Telescope Array — 3× in this paper
Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer — 3× in this paper
Benchmark — 2× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy — 2× in this paper
Eleonora Alei — 2× in this paper
European Southern Observatory — 2× in this paper
Fiber Linked Unit for Optical Recombination — 2× in this paper
Fidelity — 2× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment — 2× in this paper
Hunt for Observable Signatures of Terrestrial Systems — 2× in this paper
Jean-Marie Mariotti Center — 2× in this paper
Last Universal Common Ancestor — 2× in this paper
Metallicity — 2× in this paper · explained in 3 episodes
National Centre of Competence in Research — 2× in this paper
Square Kilometre Array — 2× in this paper
Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite — 2× in this paper
Unit Telescopes — 2× in this paper
alpha — 2× in this paper · explained in 1 episode
Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) — 1× in this paper · explained in 1 episode
Alignment — 1× in this paper · explained in 1 episode
Auroral Emission Radio Observer — 1× in this paper
Bayesian Inference — 1× in this paper · explained in 5 episodes
Consistency — 1× in this paper · explained in 3 episodes
Degeneracy — 1× in this paper · explained in 3 episodes
Generalization — 1× in this paper · explained in 13 episodes
Hz on the Laser Ranging Interferometer — 1× in this paper
Laser Interferometer Space Antenna — 1× in this paper
Miniature Distributed Occulter Telescope — 1× in this paper
N-body simulations — 1× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
Principal Component Analysis (PCA) — 1× in this paper · explained in 4 episodes
Probabilistic Forecasting — 1× in this paper · explained in 3 episodes
Redundancy — 1× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes

Abstract

(Extract from the Executive Summary) Humanity stands at the threshold of answering one of its most profound questions: Does life exist beyond Earth? Ongoing and upcoming space missions, together with powerful ground-based instruments, have prepared the way for a transformational next step - the detailed characterization of Earth analogs orbiting Sun-like and other stars and the search for atmospheric biosignatures that may indicate life. Within this context, the European Space Agency's Voyage 2050 process has identified the direct detection of thermal emission from temperate terrestrial exoplanets in the mid-infrared (mid-IR) as a top scientific priority. The Large Interferometer For Exoplanets (LIFE) - a space-based, mid-IR nulling interferometer - is designed to meet this goal. LIFE will be capable of detecting climate-relevant gases such as CO 2 and H 2 O, identifying classical biosignatures like O 3 and CH 4, and probing additional, non-classical biosignatures. It will also provide key data for determining planetary radius, albedo, and temperature, which are essential for assessing habitability. In parallel, the U.S. National Academy has recommended a complementary mission now called the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) - a 6-meter space telescope equipped with advanced coronagraphs to suppress starlight by a factor of 10 10 across the visible and possibly into the near-infrared and near-ultraviolet. Together, LIFE and HWO offer synergistic capabilities, enabling a comprehensive and robust assessment of the prevalence of life-bearing exoplanets in our galactic neighbourhood - a first in human history. By uniting an international and interdisciplinary community of scientists and engineers, LIFE offers a credible pathway toward the direct detection and characterization of potentially habitable - and even inhabited - worlds.

Exploring Exoplanets with Interferometry

Terminology

Abstract

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