Instruments: Telescopes

Polarimeters Telescopes

Finding life on other planets is one of the goals of my current research. My projects have contributed to the development of several ground-based telescopes dedicated to studies of exoplanets and ultimately finding extraterrestrial life:



@PLANETS Foundation

PLANETS

  • Polarized Light from Atmospheres of Nearby Extra-Terrestrial Systems: a cooperation between University of Hawaii (USA), Tohoku University (Japan), Leibniz-Institut fuer Sonnenphysik (KIS, Germany), State University of Ponta Grossa (Brasil);
    a 1.8m off-axis telescope is planned for the Haleakala Observatory (Maui, permit granted);
    to be equipped with the DIPOL2/UF polarimeters, optical and heterodyne spectrographs;
    dedicated webpages: PLANETS;
  • science: exoplanet and solar system studies using polarimetry and optical-IR spectroscopy to characterize their atmosphere and composition.


  • @PLANETS Foundation

    ELF

  • Exo-Life Finder: a hybrid interferometric telescope of 20m to 50m in diameter, consisting of an array of optical-IR off-axis telescopes, allowing for difraction-limited imaging of a large-aperture telescope and nulling interferometry. It is optimized for imaging of Earth-like exoplanets with a high contrast.
    dedicated webpages: ELF;
  • science: to search for and characterize exoplanets with life.


  • @PLANETS Foundation

    Colossus

  • The Colossus Telescope: a 70m to 100m class optical-IR interferometric telescope optimized for studies of exoplanets and finding life in the universe;
    dedicated webpages: Colossus;
  • science: to search for and characterize exoplanets with life.