ARIEL: Science, Mission & Community 2020 Conference

ARIEL, the Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey, will study what planets are made of and how planetary systems form and evolve by surveying a large diverse sample of many hundred extrasolar planets. Observations will be carried out simultaneously in visible and infrared wavelengths, covering the range 0.5-7.8 micron with high precision. ARIEL’s Principal Investigator is CPS colleague Professor Giovanna Tinetti (UCL, CSED) and a number of other CPS research staff and students are involved in the mission.

ARIEL is the first space mission dedicated to measuring the chemical composition and thermal structures of a large well constructed diverse sample of transiting and eclipsing exoplanets, enabling planetary science far beyond the boundaries of the Solar System.

In March 2018, ARIEL was selected as M4, the fourth medium-sized (M class) mission in ESA’s Cosmic Vision Plan. ARIEL is now in phase B1, the next major milestone is mission adoption by the ESA Science Programme Committee (SPC) in November 2020.

This conference aims to:

• involve the exoplanet community at large in the mission,
• present the mission and its science as proposed for adoption,
• put it into context of other missions and observatories, and
• discuss and plan the best ways to promote long term community involvement.

Further information about the event and the conference program can be found here: https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/ariel/programme.