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The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) formed a working group to study the science drivers for future exoplanet investigations with JWST and HST. This WG solicited brief white papers from the community to provide advice and recommendations on how JWST and HST observations can best be leveraged to investigate exoplanet systems. In addition, the STScI Director has decided to devote ~500 hours of Director's Discretionary time starting in Cycle 3 to a new JWST Legacy program focused on exoplanets.
The White Papers were meant to address any of these topics:
Key science themes that should be prioritized for future JWST and HST observations (e.g. GO, DDT, archival, multi-cycle programs)
Advice on optimal timing for substantive follow-up observations and mechanisms for enabling exoplanet science with HST and/or JWST
The appropriate scale of resources likely required to support exoplanet science with HST and/or JWST (e.g., number of orbits/hours, financial support, scheduling priority, etc.)
A specific concept for a large-scale (~500 hours) Director’s Discretionary exoplanet program to start implementation by JWST Cycle 3.
These papers were limited to one page of text and one page of figures and could address any aspects of the topics listed above. If the white paper is on a specific DDT concept it should summarize the anticipated science objectives and convey a sense of their importance, urgency, risk, and timeliness. They should briefly explain why those objectives cannot be accomplished under the present time allocation system and should include a preliminary assessment of the feasibility of the proposed investigations. White paper authors should assume that the readers are knowledgeable about the basics of exoplanet science and should not devote time or space to a lengthy introduction or background information.
White papers should use this overleaf template.
Example white paper of a fictitious topic can be found here.
The deadline for submission of white papers was 8 September 2023.
We were interested in a broad range of concept ideas from the community. The scope of the Legacy DDT program could take a variety of different approaches. Examples for concepts for a large-scale DDT topics might include (but are not limited to):
Example of dedicated time on high-value targets: Precise panchromatic spectra of archetypal exoplanets to answer key questions about their formation, composition and chemistry
Example of broad survey: Mass-metallicity population trend and dispersion
Example of high risk, high reward survey: Imaging search for sub-Jovian planets
Example of potentially high-risk, high-reward targets: An Atmospheric Inventory of Temperate, Terrestrial Planets
The white papers were reviewed anonymously by the WG with the goal of ensuring that many voices are heard in the formulation of the appropriate priorities for exoplanet science with HST and JWST. The working group’s goal is to maximize the science return and legacy value of the observations and the resultant data products. The Working Group will summarize their conclusions in a report to the Director and presentations to the STUC and the JSTUC. Interim recommendations will be presented in the Fall of 2023, with the final report due by January 2024. All de-anonymized submitted white papers will be made available after the final report and authors should not post them publicly beforehand (e.g., on the arXiv).
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