Small-ELF (SELF): a powerful telescope for high-contrast astronomy and a prototype for the future >30-meter ExoLife Finder (ELF) hybrid optical telescope

Ground-breaking science like the search for life in the atmospheres of exoplanets requires telescopes with extemely large diameters (>35m). Emerging
technology can build competing and complementary to the large astronomical telescopes being built and designed to achieve some specific science cases such as the detection and study of life-bearing exoplanets in the nearest 100 star systems. In particular, Fizeau optics, non-subtractive shaping of thin mirrors, photonics and neural-network wavefront sensing, active/adaptive optics, integral robotics and tensegrity structures, are key.

Our team is currently working on the design and construction of a 3.5m precursor telescope, using some of these disruptive technologies. The so-called Small ExoLife Finder (Small-ELF) costs about 5Me and can be finished within the next 5 years to detect nearby large exoplanets. This research and development was recently funded
by the European Union to create a new sustainable "Laboratory for Innovation in Optomechanics"  at the IAC (Tenerife) led by Prof Jeff Kuhn. LIOM plans for a 50m ExoLife Finder to be built within 10 years for about 200Meur - more than an order of magnitude less than the Keck-era and ELT telescopes. LIOM aims at (1) developing ultra-thin light mirrors with novel engineered materials to reduce the cost and weight of future telescopes. Moreover, our team is developing (2) designing lighter structures with pre-tensioned cables to support mirrors and lighten structures, and (3) integrating photonic devices that allow more thermal and mechanical stability cost savings with high replicability.

The talk will review our progress on all these fronts.