Japan Proposes Coronagraph Contributions to NASA's Habitable Worlds Observatory
Japan has outlined potential contributions to the coronagraph instrument for NASA's planned Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), building on its experience with previous space telescope projects. The proposal considers hardware contributions ranging from large-scale infrared coronagraph systems to smaller components, with particular focus on achieving small inner working angles and high sensitivity. Japan's participation could enhance the HWO's capability to directly image and characterize potentially habitable exoplanets.
A new study from Japanese researchers describes possible ways Japan could contribute to the coronagraph systems of the Habitable Worlds Observatory, a future NASA mission designed to search for potentially habitable exoplanets. The proposal builds on Japan's existing expertise from projects including the SPICA coronagraph instrument, contributions to the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, and the SCExAO adaptive optics system on the Subaru telescope. Japan is considering contributions at multiple scales, from designing entire infrared coronagraph systems to providing individual high-contrast imaging components. The researchers emphasize that achieving small inner working angles (the minimum angular separation at which the coronagraph can detect faint planets) and high sensitivity are critical technical challenges. They propose that dedicated observations of nearby targets could form a key science program, and suggest Japan's involvement could extend across multiple generations of HWO instruments to maximize scientific returns.
What's missing
The study does not specify the current status of international negotiations or formal agreements between Japan and NASA regarding these proposed contributions, nor does it provide timelines for when such contributions might be implemented.
What different sources said
- arXiv astro-phCenter
Japan's Possible Contributions for Coronagraph of the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO)
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