MANTIS
Monitoring Activity from Nearby sTars with uv Imaging and Spectroscopy – Investigating the impact of stellar UV on exoplanet atmospheres
SHORT DESCRIPTION
MANTIS is a space telescope planned by NASA that will study the ultraviolet (UV) emission of stars, especially in the extreme UV range, to judge the habitability of planets orbiting them, and will be the first telescope to work in that range since NASA’s Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer, which retired in 2001. The telescope is being built at the University of Colorado Boulder as a cubesat for launch in 2026.
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will get a boost in its search for exoplanets from the MANTIS satellite, with the two satellites set to complement each other. Among its many tasks, JWST will pore over the atmospheres of rocky planets that could host life, while MANTIS will examine stellar activity.
The theory holds that rocky exoplanets with water on their surfaces could face additional challenges if they orbit a very active star given the amount of radiation such planets would be exposed to. MANTIS aims to provide more data to refine this theory, through a year of observations from Earth orbit. The aim is to understand how UV light from stars affects the planets’ atmospheres and even their habitability.
MANTIS will carry two telescopes into space. One is optimized for low-energy UV radiation, and the other type of telescope will look at the extreme UV range. Stars of all types will be observed, and many of them will be the first time they have been observed in the extreme UV.
ROLE OF THE OBSERVATORY
Our observatory participates in the MANTIS project for the scientific exploitation of the data and for the construction/design part of the optical system for the EUV telescope
OBSERVATORY STAFF INVOLVED
- Francesco Borsa – francesco.borsa AT inaf.it
- Marta Civitani – marta.civitani AT inaf.it
- Giancarlo Ghirlanda – giancarlo.ghirlanda AT inaf.it
- Giovanni Pareschi – giovanni.pareschi AT inaf.it
TIMELINE
2026-2027
WEBSITE
CONTACT
francesco.borsa AT inaf.it
CREDITS
Web page content: F. Borsa
