Twinkle: a low-Earth orbit, visible and infrared observatory for exoplanet and solar system spectroscopy
<p>The Twinkle Space Mission is a space-based observatory that has been conceived to measure the atmospheric composition of exoplanets, stars and solar system objects. The satellite is based on a high-heritage platform and will carry a 0.45 m telescope with a visible and infrared spectrograph providing simultaneous wavelength coverage from 0.5 - 4.5 &#956;m. The spacecraft will be launched into a Sun-synchronous low-Earth polar orbit and will operate in this highly stable thermal environment for a baseline lifetime of seven years.</p> <p>Twinkle will have the capability to provide high-quality infrared spectroscopic characterisation of the atmospheres of hundreds of bright exoplanets, covering a wide range of planetary types.&#160;It will also be capable of providing phase curves for hot, short-period planets around bright stars targets and of providing ultra-precise photometric light curves to accurately constrain orbital parameters, including ephemerides and TTVs/TDVs present in multi-planet systems.</p> <p>Twinkle is available for researchers around the globe in two ways:</p> <p>1) joining its collaborative multi-year survey programme, which will observe hundreds of exoplanets and solar system objects; and</p> <p>2) accessing dedicated telescope time on the spacecraft, which they can schedule for any combination of science cases.</p> <p>I will present an overview of Twinkle&#8217;s capabilities and discuss some example exoplanet surveys to highlight the broad range of targets the mission could observe, demonstrating the huge scientific potential of the spacecraft.</p>