Editor’s Note
In this article, Robert J. Vanderbei explains why the search for Earth-like planets remains one of the most demanding challenges in modern astronomy. A mathematician, engineer, and pioneer in high-contrast imaging, Vanderbei has spent much of his career developing optical techniques designed to suppress the overwhelming glare of stars and reveal the faint planetary companions hidden beside them. Motivated by the possibility that nearby Sun-like stars may host worlds similar to our own, he offers an insider’s perspective on both the obstacles and the emerging technologies that could make their discovery possible. The stakes extend far beyond astronomy: finding another Earth-like world—and perhaps evidence of life upon it—would profoundly influence our understanding of humanity’s place in the cosmos. At Curiosità, we are drawn to questions that lie at the intersection of science and philosophy, where advances in technology illuminate some of our oldest and deepest mysteries. The search for Earth-like exoplanets occupies exactly that frontier.
Bibliography
- N. J. Kasdin, R. J. Vanderbei, D. N. Spergel, and M. G. Littman, “Extrasolar Planet Finding via Optimal Apodized-Pupil and Shaped-Pupil Coronagraphs,” The Astrophysical Journal, vol. 582, no. 2, p. 1147, Jan. 2003. DOI: 10.1086/344751.
- N. Kasdin et al., “An optical/UV space coronagraph concept for the terrestrial planet finder,” Advances in Space Research, vol. 34, no. 3, pp. 625–630, 2004. DOI: 10.1016/j.asr.2003.04.039.
- R. J. Vanderbei, “Extreme optics and the search for Earth-like planets,” Mathematical Programming, vol. 112, no. 1, pp. 255–272, Mar. 2008.
- A. Carlotti, R. Vanderbei, and N. J. Kasdin, “Optimal pupil apodizations of arbitrary apertures for high-contrast imaging,” Optics Express, vol. 19, no. 27, pp. 26796–26809, Dec. 2011. DOI: 10.1364/OE.19.026796.
- N. J. Kasdin, R. J. Vanderbei, and R. Belikov, “Shaped pupil coronagraphy,” Comptes Rendus Physique, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 312–322, 2007. DOI: 10.1016/j.crhy.2007.02.009.
- R. J. Vanderbei, N. J. Kasdin, D. N. Spergel, and M. Kuchner, “New pupil masks for high-contrast imaging,” in Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets, D. R. Coulter, Ed., SPIE Conference Series, vol. 5170, Nov. 2003, pp. 49–56. DOI: 10.1117/12.505307.
- R. J. Vanderbei, D. N. Spergel, and N. J. Kasdin, “Spiderweb Masks for High-Contrast Imaging,” Astrophysical Journal, vol. 590, no. 1, pp. 593–603, Jun. 2003. DOI: 10.1086/374971.
- R. J. Vanderbei, D. N. Spergel, and N. J. Kasdin, “Circularly symmetric apodization via starshaped masks,” Astrophysical Journal, vol. 599, pp. 686–694, 2003. DOI: 10.1086/379238.
- N. T. Zimmerman, A. J. E. Riggs, N. J. Kasdin, A. Carlotti, and R. J. Vanderbei, “Shaped pupil Lyot coronagraphs: high-contrast solutions for restricted focal planes,” Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems, vol. 2, no. 1, p. 011012, 2016. DOI: 10.1117/1.JATIS.2.1.011012.
- D. Spergel et al., “WFIRST-2.4: What Every Astronomer Should Know,” arXiv e-prints, arXiv:1305.5425, May 2013. DOI: 10.48550/arXiv.1305.5425.
- D. Spergel et al., “Wide-Field InfraRed Survey Telescope-Astrophysics Focused Telescope Assets WFIRST-AFTA Final Report,” arXiv e-prints, arXiv:1305.5422, May 2013. DOI: 10.48550/arXiv.1305.5422.
- N. T. Zimmerman, A. J. E. Riggs, N. J. Kasdin, A. Carlotti, and R. J. Vanderbei, “Shaped pupil Lyot coronagraph designs for WFIRST/AFTA,” in Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets VII, S. Shaklan, Ed., SPIE Conference Series, vol. 9605, Sep. 2015. DOI: 10.1117/12.2187141.
- J. H. Debes et al., “Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope–Astrophysics Focused Telescope Assets coronagraphic operations: lessons learned from the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope,” Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems, vol. 2, no. 1, p. 011010, 2015. DOI: 10.1117/1.JATIS.2.1.011010.
- S. A. Johnson et al., “Predictions of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Galactic Exoplanet Survey. II. Free-floating Planet Detection Rates,” The Astronomical Journal, vol. 160, no. 3, p. 123, Sep. 2020. DOI: 10.3847/1538-3881/aba75b.