Setting the Stage for the Planet Formation Imager

TL;DR

The paper discusses the planning and design of the Planet Formation Imager, a next-generation infrared interferometer array aimed at imaging planet formation processes and young exoplanets, highlighting scientific goals, technical challenges, and future activities.

Contribution

It defines a baseline architecture for PFI capable of achieving its science goals and identifies key technical challenges and activities needed to realize this facility.

Findings

PFI will enable imaging of active planet formation regions.

A baseline architecture for PFI is proposed.

Technical challenges include scaling telescope designs to 8 m-class.

Abstract

An international group of scientists has begun planning for the Planet Formation Imager (PFI, www.planetformationimager.org), a next-generation infrared interferometer array with the primary goal of imaging the active phases of planet formation in nearby star forming regions and taking planetary system 'snapshots' of young systems to understand exoplanet architectures. PFI will be sensitive to warm dust emission using mid-infrared capabilities made possible by precise fringe tracking in the near-infrared. An L/M band beam combiner will be especially sensitive to thermal emission from young exoplanets (and their circumplanetary disks) with a high spectral resolution mode to probe the kinematics of CO and H2O gas. In this brief White Paper, we summarize the main science goals of PFI, define a baseline PFI architecture that can achieve those goals, and identify key technical challenges that must be overcome before the dreams of PFI can be realized within the typical cost envelope of a major observatory. We also suggest activities over the next decade at the flagship US facilities (CHARA, NPOI, MROI) that will help make the Planet Formation Imager facility a reality. The key takeaway is that infrared interferometry will require new experimental telescope designs that can scale to 8 m-class with the potential to reduce per area costs by x10, a breakthrough that would also drive major advances across astronomy.