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| Paper: |
Detecting and Characterizing Venus Analogs Orbiting Other Stars with the Habitable Worlds Observatory |
| Monograph: |
10, HWO25 Proceedings Part I: Community Science Case Development Documents |
| Page: |
529 |
| Authors: |
Stephen R. Kane, Emma L. Miles, Colby M. Ostberg, Noam R. Izenberg, Sarah Blunt, Jessie Christiansen, Tansu Daylan, Courtney Dressing, Luca Fossati, Antonio Garcia Munoz, Kenneth Goodis Gordon, Caleb Harada, Renyu Hu, Ludmila Carone, Eric Nielsen, Elisabeth Newton, Malena Rice, Sabina Sagynbayeva, Christopher Stark, Peter Woitke |
| DOI: |
10.26624/XVEA5163 |
| Abstract: |
Understanding planetary habitability requires a comparative approach anchored to the divergent evolutionary outcomes of Earth and Venus. The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) will be uniquely positioned to conduct a statistical and physical census of terrestrial exoplanets spanning the Venus Zone (VZ) and the Habitable Zone (HZ), enabling the detection and atmospheric characterization of post–runaway greenhouse worlds ("exoVenuses"). We present a comprehensive science case and an observing strategy that integrates precursor radial-velocity (RV), transit, and stellar characterization with HWO direct imaging, spectroscopy across the UV/optical/IR, and spectropolarimetry. Our framework emphasizes diagnostics of sulfur chemistry (SO2) and aerosol physics (H2SO4 clouds/hazes), the planetary redox state (O2/O3 false positives from hydrogen loss), and cloud microphysics (rainbow polarization). We quantify implications for HWO requirements, including UV access to 0.2–0.4 µm, optical/NIR coverage to ≳1.5 µm, inner working angle (IWA) reaching 0.3–1.5 AU around nearby Sun-like stars, the SNR/resolution needed for key features, and outline a path to robust demographic inferences and target triage. |
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