Chinese Scientists Complete a Concept Study for a 6-Meter Space Telescope to Find Habitable Exoplanets

With JWST safely in space, researchers are designing the next generation of space telescope that could Earth-sized worlds orbiting sunlike stars. Chinese scientists released a concept paper this week for the Tianlin mission, a 6-meter UV/Optical/IR space telescope, which could begin operations in 2045. This telescope would search for rocky planets in the habitable zones around nearby stars and search for biosignatures using direct imaging. The team estimates they could obtain the spectrum of 20 candidate exoplanets in the first five years of operation.

#exoplanets #spacetelescope #tianlin

http://arxiv.org/abs/2307.12013

China is funding the concept study and considering funding the feasibility study of a large #SpaceTelescope that looks for #exoplanets and aims to start operation around 2035, according to its researchers: https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-05-20/China-plans-to-launch-large-space-telescope-for-exoplanets-around-2035-1jXJNz2XGjm/index.html - named #Tianlin or "neighbor in the sky" in Chinese, the 6-meter class UV to optical space telescope will be mainly dedicated to looking for Earth-like planets, particularly Earth twins in the habitable zones around nearby stars.