Abstract
BRACEWELL1 has recently proposed detection of planetary companions to nearby stars by means of a spinning IR interferometer. In particular, he notes that at far IR wavelengths, the emissivity ratio of the planet to the star increases by five orders of magnitude over equivalent values in the visible. I point out here that more than another three orders of magnitude in sensitivity is gained by choosing white dwarfs as the observational objects, which may permit detection of jovian or black dwarf companions by direct photometry from a space telescope with photon-limited, far IR detectors.
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FAWLEY, W. On the detection of jovian companions to white dwarfs. Nature 279, 622 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1038/279622a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/279622a0
