Subventions et des contributions :

Subvention ou bourse octroyée s'appliquant à plus d'un exercice financier. (2017-2018 à 2022-2023)

The long-term objective of this proposal is to find the nearest habitable terrestrial planets and probe their atmosphere to determine their chemical composition; this is a key stepping-stone in our quest for life outside the Solar System. I intend to play a pivotal role in this exciting endeavor through the deployment of three new state-of-the-art astronomical instruments whose operation will be initiated towards the end of this decade, two on the ground and one on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). These instruments will be used to initiate long-term, all-sky programs dedicated to searching nearby habitable worlds and study them in detail, in particular to determine the main constituents of their atmosphere to assess their ability to harbor life.

My research activities are twofold. I contribute to the development of state-of-the-art astronomical instruments specialized for the detection and characterization of exoplanets. I also actively participate in a wide variety of observational programs all dedicated to searching/studying exoplanets including their host star. This task involves the use of a variety of instruments, telescopes and observing techniques both ground- and space-based. The focus of my research program is on a special class of terrestrial exoplanets that happen to orbit in the so-called habitable zone (HZ), i.e. the region around a star that is temperate enough to sustain liquid water on the surface of the planet. Those planets may have the right conditions for life to strive.

I am co-principal investigator of two international projects focused on the development of infrared velocimeter instruments (SPIRou in the north; NIRPS in the south) both optimized for detecting small rocky planets around nearby low-mass stars. Both projects are well underway with a strong (~50%) financial contribution from Canada under my leadership. Starting in 2018, both SPIRou and NIRPS will be allocated at least 1000 nights over five years to conduct two major exoplanet surveys: one focused on finding the closest habitable worlds and the other to perform crucial mass measurements of several 100s transiting systems. I will also be in a leadership position to probe the atmosphere of those habitable words using JWST through transit spectroscopy, a powerful technique used to recover the spectrum of an exoplanet atmosphere. I am principal investigator of the Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph, the Canadian-built JWST instrument that features a mode specifically designed for high-precision transit spectroscopy. Starting in the spring of 2019, my team and I will initiate a 200-hr long Guaranteed Time Observations program focused on atmospheric characterization of several types of exoplanets, including a few nearby transiting rocky systems. These programs promise to enable groundbreaking discoveries within my team, in Canada and all over the world.