Planet Formation Imager (PFI): Project update and future directions

TL;DR

The Planet Formation Imager (PFI) project aims to develop a next-generation interferometric facility with 12 telescopes to study planet formation, with recent updates on design, scalability, and space-based options.

Contribution

This paper provides an overview of the current status, design considerations, and future directions for the PFI project, including potential space-based implementations.

Findings

A 12-telescope array design is feasible but costly.

Scaled-down PFI configurations can address key science questions.

Space-based PFI options are becoming more viable.

Abstract

The Planet Formation Imager (PFI) Project is dedicated to defining a next-generation facility that can answer fundamental questions about how planets form, including detection of young giant exoplanets and their circumplanetary disks. The proposed expansive design for a 12-element array of 8m class telescopes with >1.2 km baselines would indeed revolutionize our understanding of planet formation and is technically achievable, albeit at a high cost. It has been 10 years since this conceptual design process began and we give an overview of the status of the PFI project. We also review how a scaled back PFI with fewer large telescopes could answer a range of compelling science questions, including in planet formation and as well as totally different astrophysics areas. New opportunities make a space-based PFI more feasible now and we give a brief overview of new efforts that could also pave the way for the Large Interferometer For Exoplanets (LIFE) space mission.