As part of its grantmaking in astronomy and cosmology, the Foundation’s Science program supports innovative technologies that enhance and accelerate the search for exoplanets. For centuries, the notion of life beyond our solar system was pure speculation. However, with the advancement of technology, that possibility is on the verge of becoming a testable scientific hypothesis. Since the discovery of the first exoplanet in 1995 (named 51 Pegasi b), more than 3,500 exoplanets have been detected, and more are being found at an increasing rate.

“The goal of the Artemis telescope is to look at the roughly 800 nearest ultra-cool dwarf stars located in the northern skies (and a sliver of the southern skies) to find Earth-sized planets that may have a temperate climate and be amenable for further in-depth characterization with the next generation of observatories, such as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Extremely Large Telescopes,” Dr. Julien de Wit explained in an interview with MIT News. “These will be able to tell us more about their atmosphere, climate, and what molecules might be present on them.”

Dr. Julien de Wit, assistant professor at MIT-EAPS, is Artemis’ principal investigator and the project lead for SPECULOOS’ expansion into the Northern Hemisphere. Previously, Dr. de Wit worked with the TRAPPIST team to discover the TRAPPIST-1 system, a system that contains three temperate Earth-sized planets orbiting an ultracool dwarf star. The successful work of the TRAPPIST project helped spawn the SPECULOOS collaboration. Dr. de Wit will apply his extensive experience in developing innovative observing, modeling, and analyzing techniques to optimize Artemis’ science output.