New Worlds, New Vantage Points: How Does the Antarctic Plateau Fit on the Roadmap for the Search of Extrasolar earthlike Planets?

LESIA – Observatoire de Paris, 5 place Jules Janssen, 92190 Meudon, France

Abstract

The search for earth-like planets around solar analogs, and their spectroscopic characterization, is one of the major endeavors of astronomy for the next decades. This long term program that will ultimately require dedicated space missions can be supported by facilities taking advantage of the exceptional qualities of the Antarctic plateau for astronomical observations requiring a combination of high angular resolution and very high dynamic range. A medium scale pathfinder mission would fit both on the roadmap for Darwin and towards the preparation of a future kilometric imaging array in Antarctica.