26-016 Revolutionizing Exoplanet Detection with Keplerian-Stacker algorithms

Mission

Most of the 7,500 exoplanets discovered to date have been identified through indirect methods such as radial velocity, transit photometry, and astrometry. While these techniques have been highly successful, they provide limited information about the physical and atmospheric properties of exoplanets. Direct imaging, remains constrained by the contrast limitations of current ground-based instruments like SPHERE and GPI (contrast of ~10^6 at 500 mas). As a result, only a handful of exoplanets, primarily young, massive gas giants, have been directly imaged, with those located near the snow line (< 10 AU) remaining undetectable. Future space telescopes, including the Roman Space Telescope (RST) and the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), will push the boundaries of direct imaging by enabling observations closer to the snow line. However, characterizing low-mass exoplanets akin to those in our solar system with RST and HWO will require very long exposure tim...