Abstract
The Exoplanet Characterisation Observatory (EChO) mission was one of the proposed candidates for the European Space Agency’s third medium mission within the Cosmic Vision Framework. EChO was designed to observe the spectra from transiting exo-planets in the 0.55–11 micron band with a goal of covering from 0.4 to 16 micron. The mission and its associated scientific instrument has undergone a rigorous technical evaluation phase. This paper provides an overview of the payload instrument design for the mission, showing how the system acts together to fulfill the mission objectives. We report on the results of an extensive simulation of the instrument performance and show that EChO would have been photon noise dominated for targets from a faint limit similar to GJ1214 to the brightest targets similar to 55Cnc.
Highlights
The characterisation of exoplanet atmospheres through spectroscopy is in its infancy with only a handful of objects beyond our Solar system having any sort of observed spectrum (e.g. [1,2,3,4,5])
This method has been successfully employed to measure the spectra of a few objects and is the method proposed for the Exoplanet Characterisation Observatory (EChO), which was one of the candidates for the ESA M3 missions under study until early 2014 [9]
A dedicated infrared space mission is seen as the most effective way to undertake a survey of a large number of targets plus provide the detailed follow up of a sub-sample of the brightest: the EChO mission proposal was based on this premise
Summary
The characterisation of exoplanet atmospheres through spectroscopy is in its infancy with only a handful of objects beyond our Solar system having any sort of observed spectrum (e.g. [1,2,3,4,5]). If one were to use a spectrometer to disperse the light at the same time a spectrum of the planetary atmosphere may be obtained, a technique known as transit spectroscopy This method has been successfully employed to measure the spectra of a few objects and is the method proposed for the Exoplanet Characterisation Observatory (EChO), which was one of the candidates for the ESA M3 missions under study until early 2014 [9]. In this paper we describe the design for the EChO instrument This was designed to have contiguous wavelength coverage from 0.55 to 11 μm, be highly integrated with the spacecraft and to provide the most stable thermal, mechanical and electrical environment possible to prevent systematic disturbances affecting the measurement.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
