ExoPAG SAG 23

The Impact of Exo-Zodiacal Dust on Exoplanet Direct Imaging Surveys

Motivation


The first SAG of the ExoPAG, entitled “Debris Disks & Dust”, was completed ten years ago and highlighted the fact that dust similar to that of the Zodiacal Cloud in the Solar System, so-called exozodis, could have a significant impact on missions that plan to directly image exoplanets and characterize Earth-like planetary atmospheres. Exozodi disks, as targets of study in their own right, can elucidate the architecture and chemistry of terrestrial planetary systems. In the intervening time from SAG 1, rapid advancements in instrumentation, theoretical understanding of debris disks and interplanetary dust, observational capabilities, and data reduction techniques have occurred that impact the detection of disks via thermal emission at mid-infrared wavelengths or via high contrast direct imaging in the visible and near-IR. The recent publication of the results from the HOSTS survey, which used nulling interferometric observations at 10 μm, demonstrated that exozodi systems exist around nearby stars to varying degrees and that the typical exozodi level is within a few orders of magnitude of the Solar System’s zodiacal dust, paving the way for current direct imaging exoplanet concepts. It is important then to identify the key questions that remain unanswered so that the astronomical community can make the most of the planned launch of a visible light coronagraph on the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, the construction of the next generation of ground-based instruments and telescopes, and any future direct imaging or mid-infrared interferometric missions (or both) as envisioned by the Astro2020 report and the ESA Voyage 2050 plan.


Goals


This SAG will bring together an interdisciplinary team of scientists who study dust in various forms throughout the Solar System and galaxy in order to review the current gaps in knowledge on exozodis and identify those areas of debris disk science that should be prioritized in the coming years. The goals that could be addressed by this SAG include:


Members

John Debes (STScI)(he/him/his) [Co-Lead]

Yasuhiro Hasegawa (JPL/Caltech)(he/him/his) [Co-Lead]

Isabel Rebollido (CAB-CSIC)(she/her/hers) [Co-Lead]

Aki Roberge (GSFC)

Alyssa Columbus (JHU)

Amaya Moro-Martin (STScI)

Angelle Tanner (Mississippi State University)

Bertrand Mennesson (JPL/Caltech)

César Bustos (Northwestern University)

Chris Stark (GSFC)

Christine Chen (STScI)

Devanshu Jha (MVJ College of Engineering)

Emily Rickman (STScI) (she/her/hers)

Ewan Douglas (University of Arizona) (he/him/his)

Geoff Bryden (JPL/Caltech)

Jens Kammerer (STScI)

Jess Rigley (University of Cambridge)

John Wisniewski (The University of Oklahoma) (he/him/his)

Julien Milli (Université Grenoble Alpes)

Karl Stapelfeldt (JPL/Caltech/ExEP)

Katie Crotts (University of Victoria)

Kielan Hoch (STScI)

Mark Wyatt (University of Cambridge)

Max Millar-Blanchaer (UCSB) (he/him/his)

Michael Meyer (University of Michigan)

Neal Turner (JPL/Caltech)

Nicole Pawellek (University of Vienna)

Phil A Willems (JPL/Caltech)

Ramya M Anche (University of Arizona)

Sally Dodson-Robinson (University of Delaware)

Seba Marino (University of Cambridge)

Steve Ertel (University of Arizona) (he/him/his)

Tim Pearce (Friedrich Schiller Universität)

Virginie Faramaz (University of Arizona)

William Balmer (STScI)

William C. Danchi (GSFC) (he/him/his)

Yinzi Xin (Caltech)

Kevin Ortiz Ceballos (CfA/Harvard)

Subject areas and leads



A Catalog of Dusty Systems around Nearby Stars 

Steve Ertel


A Review of Hot Dust Systems

Steve Ertel, Bill Danchi


Theory of Exozodi Sources and Dust Evolution

Mark Wyatt


Post-Processing and Detection of Extended Sources

Ewan Douglas, Max Millar-Blanchaer


Update and prioritization of ExEP Gaps relevant to ExoZodis 

Kielan K. W. Hoch


Pan-Chromatic Radiative Transfer of Exozodis

 Ramya M. Anche


Prioritization of Precursor Observational studies of Debris disks/Exozodis for future direct imaging missions

Max Millar-Blanchaer, William C. Danchi


Prioritization of Precursor Theoretical studies of Debris disks/Exozodis for future direct imaging missions 

Jess Rigley


Solar System Zodi

Neal Turner, Geoff Bryden

SAG 23 Workshop

September 15th 2023


Chair

Yasuhiro Hasegawa


Co-Organizers


Michael Meyer

Tim Pearce

Isabel Rebollido