The “dim” future of exoplanet imaging

A key goal in astronomy is obtaining direct images and spectra of
Earth-like planets to assess their habitability. These “exo-Earths”
are so faint–both in absolute terms and relative to their host
stars–that they pose extreme technical challenges, ranging from
picometer-level optical accuracy to photon-counting detectors. Efforts
to overcome these challenges have gained renewed momentum with the
advent of the Habitable Worlds Observatory, an
ultraviolet/optical/infrared space telescope with a primary goal of
imaging and obtaining spectra of approximately 25 exo-Earths. I will
review the opportunities, challenges, and road ahead, while
highlighting the significant benefits this technical development is
now beginning to bring to ground-based astronomy. These include
improvements in sensitivity, angular resolution, spectroscopy, and
astrometry, encompassing a diverse array of science from our own solar
system to the faintest galaxies in the universe.

Biography: Mike is an experimental astrophysicist working in the field of exoplanet imaging. The goals of his research group are the detection and characterization of planets around other stars, which they pursue by building, developing, and using new instruments. Their main research efforts focus on developing infrared detectors and instrument concepts for the Habitable Worlds Observatory, adaptive optics instrumentation for large ground-based telescopes like Keck and Subaru, and observing disks and planets using these and other large ground-based telescope facilities. (Adapted from https://astro.berkeley.edu/people/michael-bottom)