Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 January 2006
This paper describes a coronagraphic nulling interferometer calledKEOPS (Kiloparsec Explorer for Optical Planet Search) to be placedon the Dome C plateau of Antarctica. KEOPS is an interferometricarray of 39 1 m–2 m telescopes spread over kilometric baselines andoperated in the thermal IR region. It could search and characterizeall potential exoEarths within the 1 kpc diameter region observablefrom Dome C. We argue that even in the very difficult operationconditions of Antarctica, such a facility can compete at a muchlower cost with the non-zero risk space missions, both for for ExPNssearch and their spectroscopic characterization plus sub-massnap-shot imaging of galactic and extra-galactic compact sources.