TMT Construction Proposal - Thirty Meter Telescope

2.10 Our Solar System
Our own Solar System is the planetary system that we can study in the
most detail, and provides a reference for studies of exoplanets. TMT will
contribute greatly to our knowledge, particularly of the planets, satellites,
and small bodies of the outer Solar system.
2.10.1 The outer Solar System
Large populations of small bodies orbit beyond the major planets. These
are relics left over from the formation of the Solar System. By studying
their dynamical properties and compositions we can learn much about the
physical processes by which our planetary system formed. These trans-
Neptunian objects are small and extremely faint. Only the largest
members, with size comparable to that of Pluto, have been detected. With
adaptive optics,
TMT will be able to detect objects with diameters as small as 1 km in the
Kuiper belt, beyond Neptune’s orbit, in only 15 minutes exposure time.
2.10.2 Imaging the outer planets and their satellites
Fig 2-23: Image of Europa at
the resolution of TMT + IRIS.
Cracks in the icy crust, craters
and surface features are
clearly visible (M. Brown, CIT).
With adaptive optics, TMT will have a resolution of 7 milliarcsec at a
wavelength of 1 um. This corresponds to 25 km at the distance of Jupiter,
sufficient to resolve features on the surfaces of the moons of the outer planets. With TMT + IRIS it will be
possible to obtain spatially-resolved spectra to study the atmospheric and surface chemistry, and monitor these
objects regularly and detect changes due to weather, vulcanism and tectonic activity.
2.10.3 Atmospheric physics of the outer planets and satellites
High-resolution mid-infrared spectroscopy can reveal the composition of the atmospheres of the outer planets
and their satellites in great detail. By combining this with physical modeling, one can study the complex
chemical and photochemical reactions that produce the diversity of inorganic and organic molecules. TMT will
be able to study the atmospheres of all planets and satellites in the Solar System with much higher spectral
resolution than any space probe that has visited these objects.
Fig 2-24: High-resolution spectrum of Titan obtained with the Texes
mid-infrared spectrometer, illustrating how high-resolution
observations can give detailed information about the abundances of
molecular species (Roe et al. 2003).
TMT Construction Proposal 18