The University of Western Ontario

Published purpose

The project purpose is to discover Earth-like extrasolar planets that would be most amenable to atmospheric characterization and potential detection of biosignature gases. The team aims to complete surveys with the Spitzer Space Telescope and the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) for planets transiting low-mass stars or brown dwarfs, to assess the sizes, orbits, and ensemble properties of the newly-discovered exoplanet population, and to create a ranked list of extrasolar Earth analogues for atmospheric characterization with the James Webb Space Telescope. The project's Spitzer and TESS campaigns target the dimmest stars and sub-stellar objects (brown dwarfs). The project team has developed methods to distinguish the signature of transiting planets in the highly variable light curves of their hosts and is currently following up the first planet candidate.