Ariel detrending: algorithms to mitigate the jitter disturbance

The European Space Agency’s Ariel mission, scheduled for launch in 2029, aims to conduct the first large-scale survey of atmospheric spectra of transiting exo-planets. Jitter in the spacecraft’s line of sight is a source of disturbance when measuring the spectra of exoplanet atmospheres. 

We will describe an improved algorithm for de-jittering Ariel observations simulated in the time domain using ExoSim2, the new Exoplanet Observation Simulator, adapted to Ariel. The jitter is based on representative simulations from Airbus Defence and Space, the Ariel spacecraft’s prime contractor. We investigate the accuracy and biases of the retrieved atmospheric spectra from the jitter-detrended observations. 

Using our algorithm to de-jitter photometric and spectroscopic data, we will demonstrate the possibility of achieving the photon noise limited performance compliant with the mission requirements across the whole Ariel spectrum. This work contributes to the development of the data reduction pipeline for Ariel, aligning with its scientific goals, while potentially benefiting other astronomical telescopes and instrumentation.