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SIM Lite Spacecraft Artist's concept of the current mission configuration. The slightly conical blue cylinders indicate the field of regard spanned by the science interferometer’s collector optics. The parallel green cylinders indicate the light collected by the guide interferometer’s collector optics. The third green (conical) cylinder indicates the direction and field of view of the guide telescope. Browse - Medium Resolution (165 KB) - High Resolution (TIF 7.6 MB)
Solar wobble caused by Jupiter Displacement of the Sun over 45-year period caused by Jupiter, as observed from 33 light-years away. Browse - High Resolution (1.2 MB) Low Res Movie, White Background (2.2 MB) High Res Movie, White Background (5.2 MB) Low Res Movie, Black Background (4.3 MB) High Res Movie, Black Background (5.2 MB)
Planets SIM Can Find (1) Graphic illustrating the mass and quantity of planets SIM Lite could potentially detect. Number of terrestrial planets assumes 40% of mission time devoted to a terrestrial planet search is divided evenly between 1-Earth mass and 2-Earth planet mass surveys. Browse - High Resolution (7.1 MB)
Planets SIM Can Find (2) Graphic illustrating the mass and quantity of planets SIM Lite could potentially detect. The number of 1-Earth mass planets assumes 40% of mission time devoted to the search. Browse - High Resolution (1.2 MB)

How sensitive is SIM? Short video visualizing SIM Lite sensitivity of SIM spacecraft. (Requires latest QuickTime Player) Medium Resolution (11.3 MB) - High Resolution (42.6 MB)
Search for planet Vulcan SIM Lite would be able to detect a habitable planet around the star 40 Eridani A, which has identified as the location of Mr. Spock home planet, Vulcan, in the "Star Trek" television series. Medium Resolution (1.3 MB) - High Resolution (60.3 MB)

The Search for Another Earth Good general public talk. (PPT) Low Resolution (2.6 MB) - High Resolution (14.8 MB)
SIM Lite Mission SIM Lite astrophysics performance assessement. PDF (5.7 MB)
Astrometric Detection of Exo-Earths Slides pertaining to astrophysical noise in astrometry and RV. PPT (2.7 MB)
Science with the SIM Lite Astrometric Observatory Introduces SIM Lite and the current program of SIM science. PPT (4.7 MB)

SIM Lite will search for Earth-mass planets in the habitable zones around the nearest 60 solar-type stars — a capability unmatched by any existing instrument or instruments currently in development.

This graphic illustrates the sensitivity of different methods for discovering and analyzing exoplanets plotted with mass sensitivity of the technique vs. exoplanet orbital period. Maximum sensitivity limits are presented for Gaia (brown curve) and radial velocity (RV) searches to 1M? are plotted (grey curve). For SIM Lite, the sensitivity for finding a habitable exo-Earth is presented (red and pink curves) for both the easiest and most difficult stars and a median star among its best 60 target stars.

Plotted in the background are planets from Ida and Lin simulations, many of the known planets discovered by RV measurements, and solar system planets from Venus through Neptune. SIM Lite can discover habitable worlds in a large volume of Mass-Period space for F-G-K stars.

Chart detailing SIM Lite's planet-finding capabilities.

SIM Lite and Gaia

SIM Lite and Gaia are both astrometric missions. Gaia is an all-sky survey mission currently under development by the European Space Agency. Are both needed? The answer is emphatically yes, for two reasons. First, the advent of microarcsecond-level astrometric precision opens up a wide array of topics in astrophysics for which astrometry can now play a major role. Far from being a specialist technique, astrometry is once again becoming a fundamental tool for astronomy. Second, these missions are complementary in a way that every astronomer appreciates: Gaia is a broad-survey instrument and will fly first. SIM Lite is a powerful, sensitive, pointed instrument that will build on the results from Gaia.

Is there science overlap between SIM Lite and Gaia? The simple answer is — surprisingly little (see figure). This is because the SIM Lite science program is designed to complement, not duplicate, Gaia science. In general, Gaia will pursue those programs for which the science is derived from measurements of an ensemble of a very large number of targets. SIM Lite will focus on science that requires the highest precision on individually selected targets. Many examples can be found in this book. Two of these are the search for Earth-like planets orbiting the closest Sun-like stars and probing the Galactic potential by measuring the trajectories of individual hypervelocity stars.

Wide-Angle SIM Lite Measurements by Object Type