Chinese scientists have completed a concept study for a 6-meter space telescope that could be used to find habitable exoplanets. The telescope, known as the Tianlin Mission, would be equipped with a coronagraph to block out the light of stars, allowing it to better capture light from orbiting planets.
The Tianlin Mission could be ready to launch within the next 10 to 15 years with proper funding. It is estimated that the telescope could observe hundreds of Earth-like worlds during its five-year mission.
The telescope's coronagraph would allow it to detect molecules such as water, oxygen, methane, and even chlorophyll in the atmospheres of exoplanets. These molecules are all essential for life as we know it, so their presence in an exoplanet's atmosphere would be a strong indication that the planet could support life.
The Tianlin Mission is one of many planned missions to search for habitable exoplanets. NASA's LUVOIR mission and the European Space Agency's PLATO and ARIEL missions are also designed to find planets that could support life.
The race is on to discover new Earths and possibly even extraterrestrial life. With the Tianlin Mission, China hopes to ensure they are in the race as well.
Journal Information: Wei Wang et al, The Tianlin Mission: a 6m UV/Opt/IR space telescope to explore the habitable worlds and the universe, Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics (2023). DOI: 10.1088/1674-4527/ace90f. On arXiv: DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2307.12013