The EChO science case
Creators: name: Tinetti, Giovanna
name: Drossart, Pierre
name: Eccleston, Paul
name: Hartogh, Paul
name: Isaak, Kate
name: Linder, Martin
name: Lovis, Christophe
name: Micela, Giusi
name: Ollivier, Marc
name: Puig, Ludovic
name: Ribas, Ignasi
name: Snellen, Ignas
name: Allard, Bruce Swinyard. France
name: Barstow, Joanna
name: Cho, James
name: Coustenis, Athena
name: Cockell, Charles
name: Correia, Alexandre
name: Decin, Leen
name: de Kok, Remco
name: Deroo, Pieter
name: Encrenaz, Therese
name: Forget, Francois
name: Glasse, Alistair
name: Griffith, Caitlin
name: Guillot, Tristan
name: Koskinen, Tommi
name: Lammer, Helmut
name: Leconte, Jeremy
name: Maxted, Pierre
name: Mueller-Wodarg, Ingo
name: Nelson, Richard
name: North, Chris
name: Pallé, Enric
name: Pagano, Isabella
name: Piccioni, Guseppe
name: Pinfield, David
name: Selsis, Franck
name: Sozzetti, Alessandro
name: Stixrude, Lars
name: Tennyson, Jonathan
name: Turrini, Diego
name: Beaulieu, Mariarosa Zapatero-Osorio. Jean-Philippe
name: Grodent, Denis
name: Guedel, Manuel
name: Luz, David
name: Nørgaard-Nielsen, Hans Ulrik
name: Ray, Tom
name: Rickman, Hans
name: Selig, Avri
name: Banaszkiewicz, Mark Swain. Marek
name: Barlow, Mike
name: Bowles, Neil
name: Branduardi-Raymont, Graziella
name: Foresto, Vincent Coudé du
name: Gerard, Jean-Claude
name: Gizon, Laurent
name: Hornstrup, Allan
name: Jarchow, Christopher
name: Kerschbaum, Franz
name: Kovacs, Géza
name: Lagage, Pierre-Olivier
name: Lim, Tanya
name: Lopez-Morales, Mercedes
name: Malaguti, Giuseppe
name: Pace, Emanuele
name: Pascale, Enzo
name: Vandenbussche, Bart
name: Wright, Gillian
name: Adriani, Gonzalo Ramos Zapata. Alberto
name: Azzollini, Ruymán
name: Balado, Ana
name: Bryson, Ian
name: Burston, Raymond
name: Colomé, Josep
name: Foresto, Vincent Coudé du
name: Crook, Martin
name: Di Giorgio, Anna
name: Griffin, Matt
name: Hoogeveen, Ruud
name: Ottensamer, Roland
name: Irshad, Ranah
name: Middleton, Kevin
name: Morgante, Gianluca
name: Pinsard, Frederic
name: Rataj, Mirek
name: Reess, Jean-Michel
name: Savini, Giorgio
name: Schrader, Jan-Rutger
name: Stamper, Richard
name: Abe, Berend Winter. L.
name: Abreu, M.
name: Achilleos, N.
name: Ade, P.
name: Adybekian, V.
name: Affer, L.
name: Agnor, C.
name: Agundez, M.
name: Alard, C.
name: Alcala, J.
name: Prieto, C. Allende
name: Floriano, F. J. Alonso
name: Altieri, F.
name: Iglesias, C. A. Alvarez
name: Amado, P.
name: Andersen, A.
name: Aylward, A.
name: Baffa, C.
name: Bakos, G.
name: Ballerini, P.
name: Banaszkiewicz, M.
name: Barber, R. J.
name: Barrado, D.
name: Barton, E. J.
name: Batista, V.
name: Bellucci, G.
name: Avilés, J. A. Belmonte
name: Berry, D.
name: Bézard, B.
name: Biondi, D.
name: Błęcka, M.
name: Boisse, I.
name: Bonfond, B.
name: Bordé, P.
name: Börner, P.
name: Bouy, H.
name: Brown, L.
name: Buchhave, L.
name: Budaj, J.
name: Bulgarelli, A.
name: Burleigh, M.
name: Cabral, A.
name: Capria, M. T.
name: Cassan, A.
name: Cavarroc, C.
name: Cecchi-Pestellini, C.
name: Cerulli, R.
name: Chadney, J.
name: Chamberlain, S.
name: Charnoz, S.
name: Jessen, N. Christian
name: Ciaravella, A.
name: Claret, A.
name: Claudi, R.
name: Coates, A.
name: Cole, R.
name: Collura, A.
name: Cordier, D.
name: Covino, E.
name: Danielski, C.
name: Damasso, M.
name: Deeg, H. J.
name: Delgado-Mena, E.
name: Del Vecchio, C.
name: Demangeon, O.
name: De Sio, A.
name: De Wit, J.
name: Dobrijévic, M.
name: Doel, P.
name: Dominic, C.
name: Dorfi, E.
name: Eales, S.
name: Eiroa, C.
name: Contreras, M. Espinoza
name: Esposito, M.
name: Eymet, V.
name: Fabrizio, N.
name: Fernández, M.
name: Castella, B. Femenía
name: Figueira, P.
name: Filacchione, G.
name: Fletcher, L.
name: Focardi, M.
name: Fossey, S.
name: Fouqué, P.
name: Frith, J.
name: Galand, M.
name: Gambicorti, L.
name: Gaulme, P.
name: López, R. J. García
name: Garcia-Piquer, A.
name: Gear, W.
name: Gerard, J. -C.
name: Gesa, L.
name: Giani, E.
name: Gianotti, F.
name: Gillon, M.
name: Giro, E.
name: Giuranna, M.
name: Gomez, H.
name: Gomez-Leal, I.
name: Hernandez, J. Gonzalez
name: Merino, B. González
name: Graczyk, R.
name: Grassi, D.
name: Guardia, J.
name: Guio, P.
name: Gustin, J.
name: Hargrave, P.
name: Haigh, J.
name: Hébrard, E.
name: Heiter, U.
name: Heredero, R. L.
name: Herrero, E.
name: Hersant, F.
name: Heyrovsky, D.
name: Hollis, M.
name: Hubert, B.
name: Hueso, R.
name: Israelian, G.
name: Iro, N.
name: Irwin, P.
name: Jacquemoud, S.
name: Jones, G.
name: Jones, H.
name: Justtanont, K.
name: Kehoe, T.
name: Kerschbaum, F.
name: Kerins, E.
name: Kervella, P.
name: Kipping, D.
name: Koskinen, T.
name: Krupp, N.
name: Lahav, O.
name: Laken, B.
name: Lanza, N.
name: Lellouch, E.
name: Leto, G.
name: Goldaracena, J. Licandro
name: Lithgow-Bertelloni, C.
name: Liu, S. J.
name: Cicero, U. Lo
name: Lodieu, N.
name: Lognonné, P.
name: Lopez-Puertas, M.
name: Lopez-Valverde, M. A.
name: Rasmussen, I. Lundgaard
name: Luntzer, A.
name: Machado, P.
name: MacTavish, C.
name: Maggio, A.
name: Maillard, J. -P.
name: Magnes, W.
name: Maldonado, J.
name: Mall, U.
name: Marquette, J. -B.
name: Mauskopf, P.
name: Massi, F.
name: Maurin, A. -S.
name: Medvedev, A.
name: Michaut, C.
name: Miles-Paez, P.
name: Montalto, M.
name: Rodríguez, P. Montañés
name: Monteiro, M.
name: Montes, D.
name: Morais, H.
name: Morales, J. C.
name: Morales-Calderón, M.
name: Morello, G.
name: Martín, A. Moro
name: Moses, J.
name: Bedon, A. Moya
name: Alcaino, F. Murgas
name: Oliva, E.
name: Orton, G.
name: Palla, F.
name: Pancrazzi, M.
name: Pantin, E.
name: Parmentier, V.
name: Parviainen, H.
name: Ramírez, K. Y. Peña
name: Peralta, J.
name: Perez-Hoyos, S.
name: Petrov, R.
name: Pezzuto, S.
name: Pietrzak, R.
name: Pilat-Lohinger, E.
name: Piskunov, N.
name: Prinja, R.
name: Prisinzano, L.
name: Polichtchouk, I.
name: Poretti, E.
name: Radioti, A.
name: Ramos, A. A.
name: Rank-Lüftinger, T.
name: Read, P.
name: Readorn, K.
name: López, R. Rebolo
name: Rebordão, J.
name: Rengel, M.
name: Rezac, L.
name: Rocchetto, M.
name: Rodler, F.
name: Béjar, V. J. Sánchez
name: Lavega, A. Sanchez
name: Sanromá, E.
name: Santos, N.
name: Forcada, J. Sanz
name: Scandariato, G.
name: Schmider, F. -X.
name: Scholz, A.
name: Scuderi, S.
name: Sethenadh, J.
name: Shore, S.
name: Showman, A.
name: Sicardy, B.
name: Sitek, P.
name: Smith, A.
name: Soret, L.
name: Sousa, S.
name: Stiepen, A.
name: Stolarski, M.
name: Strazzulla, G.
name: Tabernero, H. M
name: Tanga, P.
name: Tecsa, M.
name: Temple, J.
name: Terenzi, L.
name: Tessenyi, M.
name: Testi, L.
name: Thompson, S.
name: Thrastarson, H.
name: Tingley, B. W.
name: Trifoglio, M.
name: Torres, J. Martín
name: Tozzi, A.
name: Turrini, D.
name: Varley, R.
name: Vakili, F.
name: de Val-Borro, M.
name: Valdivieso, M. L.
name: Venot, O.
name: Villaver, E.
name: Vinatier, S.
name: Viti, S.
name: Waldmann, I.
name: Waltham, D.
name: Ward-Thompson, D.
name: Waters, R.
name: Watkins, C.
name: Watson, D.
name: Wawer, P.
name: Wawrzaszk, A.
name: White, G.
name: Widemann, T.
name: Winek, W.
name: Wiśniowski, T.
name: Yelle, R.
name: Yung, Y.
name: Yurchenko, S. N.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The discovery of almost 2000 exoplanets has revealed an unexpectedly diverse planet population. Observations to date have shown that our Solar System is certainly not representative of the general population of planets in our Milky Way. The key science questions that urgently need addressing are therefore: What are exoplanets made of? Why are planets as they are? What causes the exceptional diversity observed as compared to the Solar System? EChO (Exoplanet Characterisation Observatory) has been designed as a dedicated survey mission for transit and eclipse spectroscopy capable of observing a large and diverse planet sample within its four-year mission lifetime. EChO can target the atmospheres of super-Earths, Neptune-like, and Jupiter-like planets, in the very hot to temperate zones (planet temperatures of 300K-3000K) of F to M-type host stars. Over the next ten years, several new ground- and space-based transit surveys will come on-line (e.g. NGTS, CHEOPS, TESS, PLATO), which will specifically focus on finding bright, nearby systems. The current rapid rate of discovery would allow the target list to be further optimised in the years prior to EChO's launch and enable the atmospheric characterisation of hundreds of planets. Placing the satellite at L2 provides a cold and stable thermal environment, as well as a large field of regard to allow efficient time-critical observation of targets randomly distributed over the sky. A 1m class telescope is sufficiently large to achieve the necessary spectro-photometric precision. The spectral coverage (0.5-11 micron, goal 16 micron) and SNR to be achieved by EChO, thanks to its high stability and dedicated design, would enable a very accurate measurement of the atmospheric composition and structure of hundreds of exoplanets.
description: 50 pages, 30 figures. Experimental Astronomy