Identifying Habitable Exoplanets with Radio Telescopes on the Lunar Farside

Abstract

The search for habitable conditions beyond Earth is a top priority in astrophysics. The discovery of habitable exoplanets beyond our solar system will require a suite of instruments providing long-term monitoring for detection (e.g. with space and ground-based radial velocity observations), spectroscopic characterization of atmospheric and surface properties, and eventually deep chronograph-aided observations from e.g. JWST, Roman Space Telescope, and the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO). Detection of exoplanet magnetospheres is necessary to identify the most promising targets for follow-up characterization of biosignatures with these assets, and to provide an ensemble of objects for studies of magnetospheric conditions and atmospheric composition. Only observations of low-frequency radio emission will distinguish exoplanet magnetospheres (Hallinan et al. 2021). In this white paper, we present the two lunar radio array concepts under development that would be suitable to detect these exoplanet radio emissions. In addition, we also discuss the human exploration needed prior to construction of such lunar radio arrays while highlighting preferred candidate sites (Krolikowski & Elvis 2024) for the radio telescope.