Western University researchers get $1M boost in quest for Earth-like planets

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Western University researchers are being tapped to help lead Canada’s next space telescope mission.

Researchers at Western University and Bishop’s University in Quebec are receiving $1.1 million to develop a new telescope prototype, whose aim will be to help identify and study extrasolar or Earth-like exoplanets – planets that orbit a star other than our sun.

The project, called the Photometric Observations of Extrasolar Transits mission (POET), could potentially be launched and be in orbit by 2026.

It’s being led by Stanimir Metchev, Canada Research Chair in Extrasolar Planets at Western’s Institute for Earth and Space Exploration, and Jason Rowe, Canada Research Chair in exoplanetary astrophysics in Bishop’s department of physics and astronomy.

“The proposed mission to detect and study extrasolar planets received high ranking in the small-mission category and could be Canada’s next space telescope,” said Metchev, co-principal investigator of the project.

Unlike other projects in which Canadian scientists have participated, the POET telescope would be entirely Canadian-funded and built.

The telescope would be used to measure the extent and composition of the atmosphere of extrasolar planets and aim to detect Earth-like, potentially habitable planets “around the nearest, dimmest and coolest stars, which offer the best chance of detecting signs of possible life on other planets,” Western said.

To achieve that, the University of Toronto Space Flight Laboratory would provide the spacecraft for the mission and ABB Canada the telescope and control systems for POET.

“We are very pleased to see the Canada Space Agency support this project,” Rowe said.

“A new Canadian space telescope would be an invaluable tool to discover even more about the many planetary systems that have been discovered beyond our own solar system in recent years.”