Development of Space Infrared Coronagraph toward Direct Observations of Extra Solar Planets

2010 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19204021
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Astronomy
• Research Institution: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
• Principal Investigator: NAKAGAWA Takao Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, 宇宙科学研究所, 教授 (20202210)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): ENYA Keigo 独立行政法人宇宙航空研究開発機構, 宇宙科学研究所, 助教 (40392815) ; KOTANI Takayuki 独立行政法人宇宙航空研究開発機構, 宇宙科学研究所, 宇宙航空プロジェクト研究員 (40554291)
• Project Period (FY): 2007 – 2010
• Keywords: 系外惑星 / コロナグラフ / 赤外線 / 波面補償 / SPICA

Research Abstract

Direct observation of extra solar planets is one of the key subjects of astronomy, which are linked to our cosmology : That can offer us clues to formation and evolution of planets, their diversity and ultimately evidence of extra-terrestrial life.
However, high contrast between the central stars and planets poses a challenge to the observation. To address the problem, we have been working on developing a stellar coronagraph. With the instrument, we aim to directly observe extra solar planets from the space in the infrared spectral range, which gives us condition free from atmospheric influence and favorable in contrast.
Consequently, we have achieved concrete results in a demonstration test of unprecedentedly-high contrast, development of wavefront compensation, and a cooling test in the infrared experimental environment. These achievements of ours established basic technology for observation of extra solar planets from the space in the future.

Research Products

• [Journal Article] A Wavefront Correction System for the SPICA Coronagraph Instrumen Pathways Towards Habitable Planets proceedings of a workshop held 14 to 18 September 2009 in Barcelona Spain. (2010)
  • Author(s): Kotani, T., Enya, K., Nakagawa, T., Abe, L., Miyata, T., Sako, S., Nakamura, T., Haze, K., Higuchi, S., Tange, Y.
  • Journal Title: Edited by Vincent Coude du Foresto, Dawn M. Gelino, and Ignasi Ribas. San Francisco : Astronomical Society of the Pacific Pages: 477-479
• [Journal Article] A Coronagraph Experiment in a High Thermal Stability Environment with a Binary Shaped Pupil Mask, Pathways Towards Habitable Planets, proceedings of a workshop held 14 to 18 September 2009 in Barcelona, Spain. (2010)
  • Author(s): Haze, K., Enya, K., Kotani, T., Abe, L., Nakagawa, T., Higuchi, S., Sato, T., Wakayama, T., Yamamuro, T.
  • Journal Title: Edited by Vincent Coude du Foresto, Dawn M. Gelino, and Ignasi Ribas. San Francisco : Astronomical Society of the Pacific Pages: 457-459
• [Journal Article] SPICA Coronagraph, Pathways Towards Habitable Planets, proceedings of a workshop held 14 to 18 September 2009 in Barcelona, Spain. (2010)
  • Author(s): Enya, K., Kotani, T., Nakagawa, T., Kataza, H., Komatsu, K., Uchida, H., Haze, K., Higuchi, S., Miyata, T., Sako, S.
  • Journal Title: Edited by Vincent Coude du Foresto, Dawn M. Gelino, and Ignasi Ribas. San Francisco : Astronomical Society of the Pacific Pages: 284-290
• [Journal Article] Development of a wavefront correction system for the SPICA coronagraph instrument, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2010 : Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave. (2010)
  • Author(s): Kotani, Takayuki, Enya, Keigo, Nakagawa, Takao, Abe, Lyu, Haze, Kanae, Higuchi, Shin, Tange, Yoshio
  • Journal Title: Edited by Oschmann, Jacobus M., Jr., Clampin, Mark C., MacEwen, Howard A. Proceedings of the SPIE Volume 7731 Pages: 77314F-77314F-6
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] The next-generation space infrared astronomy mission SPICA, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2010 : Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave. (2010)
  • Author(s): Takao Nakagawa
  • Journal Title: Edited by Oschmann, Jacobus M., Jr.; Clampin, Mark C. MacEwen, Howard A. Proceedings of the SPIE Volume 7731 Pages: 77310O-77310O-8
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] 次世代赤外線天文衛星SPICA (Space Infrared Telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics) (2010)
  • Author(s): 中川貴雄
  • Journal Title: 日本赤外線学会誌 Vol.19, No.1&2 Pages: 53-56
• [Journal Article] SPICA Working Group, SPICA infrared coronagraph for the direct observation of exo-planets (2010)
  • Author(s): Enya, Keigo
  • Journal Title: Advances in Space Research Volume 45, Issue 8 Pages: 979-999
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] An AO-free coronagraph experiment in vacuum with a binary-shaped pupil mask (2009)
  • Author(s): Haze, K., Enya, K., Abe, L., Tanaka, S., Nakagawa, T., Sato, T., Wakayama, T., Yamamuro, T.
  • Journal Title: Advances in Space Research Volume 43, Issue 1 Pages: 181-186
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] The space infrared telescope for cosmology and astrophysics : SPICA A joint mission between JAXA and ESA (2009)
  • Author(s): Swinyard, Bruce, Nakagawa, Takao, Merken, Patrick, Royer, Pierre, Souverijns, Tim, Vandenbussche, Bart, Waelkens, Christoffel, Davis, Peter, Di Francesco, James, Halpern, Mark, 168 coauthors
  • Journal Title: Experimental Astronomy Volume 23, Issue 1 Pages: 193-219
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Mid-infrared coronagraph for SPICA, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2008 : Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter (2008)
  • Author(s): Enya, K., Abe, L., Haze, K., Tanaka, S., Nakagawa, T., Kataza, H., Higuchi, S., Miyata, T., Sako, S., Nakamura, T.
  • Journal Title: Edited by Oschmann, Jacobus M., Jr. ; de Graauw, Mattheus W. M. ; MacEwen, Howard A. Proceedings of the SPIE Volume 7010 Pages: 70102Z-70102Z-10
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] High contrast experiment of an AO-free coronagraph with a checkerboard pupil mask (2008)
  • Author(s): Enya, K., Abe, L., Tanaka, S., Nakagawa, T., Haze, K., Sato, T., Wakayama, T.
  • Journal Title: Astronomy and Astrophysics Volume 480, Issue 3 Pages: 899-903
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] SPICA mission for mid- and far-infrared astronomy, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2008 : Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter. (2008)
  • Author(s): Nakagawa, Takao
  • Journal Title: Edited by Oschmann, Jacobus M., Jr. ; de Graauw, Mattheus W. M. ; MacEwen, Howard A. Proceedings of the SPIE Volume 7010 Pages: 70100H-70100H-8
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Presentation] SPICAプリプロジェクトチーム,SPICAタスクフォース、次世代赤外線天文衛星SPICAの概要 (2011)
  • Author(s): 中川貴雄
  • Organizer: 宇宙科学シンポジウム
  • Place of Presentation: JAXA相模原キャンパス
  • Year and Date: 20110105-20110107
• [Presentation] The next-generation space infrared astronomy mission SPICA (2010)
  • Author(s): Takao Nakagawa
  • Organizer: 8-th EAMA (East Asian Meeting on Astronomy) Symposium
  • Place of Presentation: Shanghai, China
  • Year and Date: 20101010-20101015
• [Presentation] 天文学・宇宙物理学長期計画と赤外線天文衛星計画 (2010)
  • Author(s): 中川貴雄
  • Organizer: 日本地球惑星科学連合2010年大会
  • Place of Presentation: 千葉県幕張
  • Year and Date: 20100523-20100528
• [Presentation] The next-generation infrared space mission SPICA (2009)
  • Author(s): Takao Nakagawa
  • Organizer: Interstellar Matter and Star Formation-A Multi-Wavelength Perspective
  • Place of Presentation: HYDERABAD, INDIA
  • Year and Date: 20091005-20091007
• [Presentation] Japanese Space Activity on Exoplanets and SPICA (2009)
  • Author(s): Takao Nakagawa
  • Organizer: Pathways towards habitable Planets
  • Place of Presentation: Barcelona, Spain
  • Year and Date: 20090914-20090918
• [Presentation] SPICA Coronagraph Instrument (SCI) for the Direct Imaging and Spectroscopy of Exo-Planets (2009)
  • Author(s): Enya K., Kotani T., Nakagawa T., Kataza H., Haze K., Higuchi S., Miyata T., Sako S., Nakamura T., Yamashita T., et al.
  • Organizer: SPICA joint European/Japanese Workshop
  • Place of Presentation: Oxford University,UK
  • Year and Date: 20090706-20090708
• [Presentation] 宇宙から宇宙を探る (2009)
  • Author(s): 中川貴雄
  • Organizer: JAXAシンポジウム2009「きぼう」から遥かなる宇宙へ
  • Place of Presentation: 有楽町朝日ホール
  • Year and Date: 2009-07-09
• [Book] 宇宙の観測I-光・赤外天文学シリーズ現代の天文学第15巻 (2007)
  • Author(s): 青木和光、家正則、岩室史秀、大石雅寿秀、片坐宏一、佐々木敏由紀、高田唯史、高遠徳尚、田村元秀、中川貴雄、西川淳、早野裕、宮崎聡、八木雅文、安田直樹、山下卓也、山下泰正、吉田道利
  • Total Pages: 7-225
  • Publisher: 日本評論者
• [Book] テラヘルツ技術総覧 (2007)
  • Author(s): 寛本宣久、田中耕一郎、斗内政吉、中川貴雄, 他
  • Total Pages: 572-574
  • Publisher: エヌジーティー
• [Remarks] ホームページ等
  • URL: http://www.ir.isas.jaxa.jp/SPICA/SPICA_HP/index.html