Characterizing exoplanetary atmospheres with a mid-infrared nulling interferometer

The discovery of an increasing number of terrestrial planets around nearby stars marks the dawn of a new era in the exoplanet field: the characterization and understanding of their atmospheres. To make significant progress, it becomes clear that a large number of exoplanetary atmospheres have to be studied at various wavelengths. This is particularly relevant for identifying possible bio-signatures. In this talk, we present a concept of a space-based mid-infrared nulling spectrograph that can characterize a large number of exoplanetary atmospheres and provide key information on their size, surface temperature, and the presence of key molecules such as CO2, H2O, CH4 and O3. The proposed mission concept would be particularly suited to characterize Proxima Cen b.