The Planet as Exoplanet Analog Spectrograph (PEAS): Design and First-Light

TL;DR

PEAS is a novel instrument that simulates exoplanet observations by using a dedicated telescope and integrating sphere to capture Solar System planets as unresolved point sources, aiding exoplanet characterization.

Contribution

The paper introduces PEAS, a new instrument that mimics exoplanet observations using Solar System planets, enabling better understanding of observational limitations.

Findings

PEAS successfully captures integrated spectra of Solar System planets.

Initial results demonstrate PEAS's capability to simulate exoplanet-like data.

The instrument design facilitates testing of exoplanet observation techniques.

Abstract

Exoplanets are abundant in our galaxy and yet characterizing them remains a technical challenge. Solar System planets provide an opportunity to test the practical limitations of exoplanet observations with high signal-to-noise data that we cannot access for exoplanets. However, data on Solar System planets differ from exoplanets in that Solar System planets are spatially resolved while exoplanets are unresolved point-sources. We present a novel instrument designed to observe Solar System planets as though they are exoplanets, the Planet as Exoplanet Analog Spectrograph (PEAS). PEAS consists of a dedicated 0.5-m telescope and off-the-shelf optics, located at Lick Observatory. PEAS uses an integrating sphere to disk-integrate light from the Solar System planets, producing spatially mixed light more similar to the spectra we can obtain from exoplanets. This paper describes the general system design and early results of the PEAS instrument.