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Balloon Exoplanet Nulling Interferometer (BENI)We evaluate the feasibility of using a balloon-borne nulling interferometer to detect and characterize exosolar planets and debris disks. The existing instrument consists of a 3-telescope Fizeau imaging interferometer with 3 fast steering mirrors and 3 delay lines operating at 800 Hz for closed-loop control of wavefront errors and fine pointing. A compact visible nulling interferometer is under development which when coupled to the imaging interferometer would in-principle allow deep suppression of starlight. We have conducted atmospheric simulations of the environment above 100,000 feet and believe balloons are a feasible path forward towards detection and characterization of a limited set of exoplanets and their debris disks. Herein we will discuss the BENI instrument, the balloon environment and the feasibility of such as mission.
Document ID
20090031860
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Lyon, Richard G.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Clampin, Mark
Woodruff, Robert A.
Vasudevan, Gopal
Ford, Holland
Petro, Larry
Herman, Jay
Rinehart, Stephen
Carpenter, Kenneth
Marzouk, Joe
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
August 5, 2009
Subject Category
Astronomy
Meeting Information
Meeting: Society for Photo-Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) Annual Conference
Location: San Diego, CA
Country: United States
Start Date: August 5, 2009
End Date: August 6, 2009
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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