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American Astronomical Society, Astrophysical Journal Supplement, 2(216), p. 24, 2015

DOI: 10.1088/0067-0049/216/2/24

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Target Selection for the LBTI Exozodi Key Science Program

Journal article published in 2015 by Alycia J. Weinberger ORCID, Geoff Bryden, Grant M. Kennedy, Aki Roberge ORCID, Denis Defrère ORCID, Philip M. Hinz, Rafael Millan-Gabet, George Rieke, Vanessa P. Bailey ORCID, William C. Danchi, Chris Haniff, Bertrand Mennesson ORCID, Eugene Serabyn, Andrew J. Skemer ORCID, Karl R. Stapelfeldt and other authors.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Abstract

The Hunt for Observable Signatures of Terrestrial planetary Systems (HOSTS) on the Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer will survey nearby stars for faint emission arising from ~300 K dust (exozodiacal dust), and aims to determine the exozodiacal dust luminosity function. HOSTS results will enable planning for future space telescopes aimed at direct spectroscopy of habitable zone terrestrial planets, as well as greater understanding of the evolution of exozodiacal disks and planetary systems. We lay out here the considerations that lead to the final HOSTS target list. Our target selection strategy maximizes the ability of the survey to constrain the exozodi luminosity function by selecting a combination of stars selected for suitability as targets of future missions and as sensitive exozodi probes. With a survey of approximately 50 stars, we show that HOSTS can enable an understanding of the statistical distribution of warm dust around various types of stars and is robust to the effects of varying levels of survey sensitivity induced by weather conditions. ; Comment: accepted to ApJS