PEGASE explained

PEGASE is a design for a space observatory developed by France in the early 2000s.^[1] It combined formation flying with infrared telescopes operating as a double-aperture interferometer.^[1] Three free-flying satellites would operate together;a beam combiner and two siderostats.^[1] The baseline of the interferometer would be adjustable to between 50 and 500 meters.^[1] The goal of the mission is the study of Hot Jupiters ("pegasids"), brown dwarfs and the interior of protoplanetary disks.^[2] The design was developed by Centre National d'Études Spatiales and was studied for a launch as early as 2010–2012.^[3] However, the Phase-0 part of the study in 2005 suggested it would take 8 or 9 years to develop.^[1]

See also

• List of proposed space observatories

Notes and References

1. http://proceedings.spiedigitallibrary.org/proceeding.aspx?articleid=1326698 Pegase: a space-based nulling interferometer
2. M. Ollivier . PEGASE: a DARWIN/TPF pathfinder . Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union . 2005 . 1 . 241–246 . 10.1017/S1743921306009380 . vanc . 1 . Le Duigou . J.-M. . Mourard . D. . Absil . O. . Cassaing . F. . Herwats . E. . Escarrat . L. . Chazelas . B. . Allard . F. . free .
3. Web site: O. Absil . etal . 2004 . Pegase: a space interferometer for the spectro-photometry of Pegasides . Université de Liège . 2007-07-23 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20060622190356/http://vela.astro.ulg.ac.be/themes/telins/harigs/oa/LIAC37_pegase.pdf . June 22, 2006 .