ARIEL’s next Science, Mission & Community Conference will be held on 14 – 16 January 2020 at ESA/ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands
ARIEL, the Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey, was selected as the fourth medium-class mission in ESA’s Cosmic Vision programme. During its 4-year mission, ARIEL will study what exoplanets are made of, how they formed and how they evolve, by surveying a diverse sample of about 1000 extrasolar planets, simultaneously in visible and infrared wavelengths. It is the first mission dedicated to measuring the chemical composition and thermal structures of hundreds of transiting exoplanets, enabling planetary science far beyond the boundaries of the Solar System.
This conference aims to involve the planetary and astrophysical community at large in the mission, to present the mission and its science as proposed for adoption, to put it into context of other missions and observatories, and to discuss and plan the best ways to promote long term community involvement.