Direct Imaging and Spectroscopy of Extrasolar Planets

TL;DR

This paper reviews the current state and future prospects of direct imaging and spectroscopy for discovering and characterizing exoplanets, especially Earth-like planets around nearby stars.

Contribution

It summarizes recent advances, current instruments, confirmed exoplanets, and forecasts future tools and facilities for exoplanet imaging and spectroscopy.

Findings

Direct imaging has provided insights into gas giant atmospheres.

Current methods have identified numerous exoplanets.

Future instruments will enable detection of habitable zone rocky planets.

Abstract

Direct imaging and spectroscopy is the likely means by which we will someday identify, confirm, and characterize an Earth-like planet around a nearby Sun-like star. This Chapter summarizes the current state of knowledge regarding discovering and characterizing exoplanets by direct imaging and spectroscopy. We detail instruments and software needed for direct imaging detections and summarize the current inventory of confirmed and candidate directly-imaged exoplanets. Direct imaging and spectroscopy in the past decade has provided key insights into jovian planet atmospheres, probed the demographics of the outskirts of planetary systems, and shed light on gas giant planet formation. We forecast the new tools and future facilities on the ground and in space that will enhance our capabilities for exoplanet imaging and will likely image habitable zone rocky planets around the nearest stars.