Proposed optimal targets for a Lazuli ExtraSolar Coronagraph reflected starlight exoplanet campaign
Abstract
Direct detection and characterization of exoplanet atmospheres via reflected starlight enables probes of composition of mature exoplanet systems (since flux is decoupled from age) at closer separations than via thermal emission (due to observations in visible wavelengths), and even probes of biosignatures. New and upcoming ground and space-based platforms are enabling these observations for the first time. Recently the 3-m Lazuli Space Telescope, from the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Observatory System, was announced, which will be equipped with the ExtraSolar Coronagraph (ESC) designed for reflected light gas giant exoplanet observations in visible wavelengths. In this paper we present 27 known giant exoplanets that could make up an optimal first target list for these observations. This target list spans ages and temperatures of planets not probed before by direct imaging, but some of which will also be accessible to the \textsl{Nancy Grace Roman} Coronagraph instrument and the ELT-METIS thermal imager, providing comprehensive atmosphere characterization and synergies. We discuss the science enabled by ESC observations of this target list and enhancements provided by future astrometric and radial velocity measurements.
Related
- 3.5-meter Segmented-Mirror Robotic Space Telescope Mission White Paper III. Key Scientific Mission: Exoplanet Science with a Coronagraph
- Rotational broadening of exoplanet spectra in arbitrarily oriented systems: Application to reflected light
- Systematic Uncertainties in Rocky Exoplanet Reflected Light from Incomplete Laboratory BRDF Measurements
- Constraints on Dark Matter Annihilation from Starlight-Induced Inverse Compton Emission in Omega Centauri
- Asteroid modelling by starlight diffraction: The shape of Dimorphos, the satellite of (65803) Didymos
BibTeX
@misc{pearce2026proposed,
title = {{Proposed optimal targets for a Lazuli ExtraSolar Coronagraph reflected starlight exoplanet campaign}},
author = {Logan A. Pearce and Ewan Douglas},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.31286},
eprint = {2610.31286},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.31286},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Proposed optimal targets for a Lazuli ExtraSolar Coronagraph reflected starlight exoplanet campaign
AU - Logan A. Pearce
AU - Ewan Douglas
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/28
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.31286
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.31286
AB - Direct detection and characterization of exoplanet atmospheres via reflected starlight enables probes of composition of mature exoplanet systems (since flux is decoupled from age) at closer separations than via thermal emission (due to observations in visible wavelengths), and even probes of biosignatures. New and upcoming ground and space-based platforms are enabling these observations for the first time. Recently the 3-m Lazuli Space Telescope, from the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Observatory System, was announced, which will be equipped with the ExtraSolar Coronagraph (ESC) designed for reflected light gas giant exoplanet observations in visible wavelengths. In this paper we present 27 known giant exoplanets that could make up an optimal first target list for these observations. This target list spans ages and temperatures of planets not probed before by direct imaging, but some of which will also be accessible to the \textsl{Nancy Grace Roman} Coronagraph instrument and the ELT-METIS thermal imager, providing comprehensive atmosphere characterization and synergies. We discuss the science enabled by ESC observations of this target list and enhancements provided by future astrometric and radial velocity measurements.
ER -