Short Course:
Hybrid Space-Ground Observatories: Revolutionizing the Search for Earth-Like Exoplanets
Monday, October 20, 2025
8:15 A.M. Coffee
8:45 A.M. - 12:30 P.M. Short Course (Informal lunch will be provided for all attendees)
Chen 100 Lecture Hall, Chen Neuroscience Research Building, California Institute of Technology
All interested researchers and students are invited to attend. No registration is required for the short course. Seating is limited and is available on a first come, first served basis.
Program:
Talk 1 – "Hybrid Space-Ground Observatories" – John Mather, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
- Hybrid Observatory Missions, proposed and funded
- A Hybrid Starshade - Ground-based telescope concept for exoplanet characterization
- Feasability and challenges
- Current efforts
Talk 2 – "Exoplanet Science and Discoveries" – Sara Seager, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- A Brief History of Exoplanet Discovery
- "Earth Cousins": The Current Search for Habitable Worlds
- "Earth Twins": How to Find and Identify Them
- Challenges
- Future
Talk 3 – "Starshade" – Stuart Shaklan, JPL
- Principles
- Technology status
- Tolerances and optical performance for a hybrid observatory - KISS concept
- Imaging simulations
Talk 4 – "Extremely Large Telescopes" – John O'Meara, W.M. Keck Observatory
- Observatories (ELT/TMT/Keck/GMT) under development: design and status
- Key capabilities/instruments/scheduling/opportunities
- Limitations
- Timeline
Talk 5 – "Adaptive Optics and Extreme AO" – Markus Kasper, European Southern Observatory
- State of the art of current and upcoming ExAO instruments for ELT
- Future ELT exoplanet imager and spectrograph instruments
- Expected performance with a hybrid starshade system
Talk 6 – "Orbital Dynamics" – Eliad Peretz, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
- Observational, re-target requirements, payload capabilities and adaptations
- Classes of solutions and preferred ones
- Fuel and mission lifetime