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Giant exoplanets on 10-100 au orbits have been directly imaged around youngstars. The peak of the thermal emission from these warm young planets is in thenear-infrared (~1-5 microns), whereas mature, temperate exoplanets (i.e., thosewithin their stars' habitable zones) radiate primarily in the mid-infrared(mid-IR: ~10 microns). If the background noise in the mid-IR can be mitigated,then exoplanets with low masses--including rocky exoplanets--can potentially beimaged in very deep exposures. Here, we review the recent results of theBreakthrough Watch/New Earths in the Alpha Centauri Region (NEAR) program onthe Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile. NEAR pioneered a ground-based mid-IRobserving approach designed to push the capabilities for exoplanet imaging witha specific focus on the closest stellar system, Alpha Centauri. NEAR combinedseveral new optical technologies--including a mid-IR optimized coronagraph,adaptive optics system, and rapid chopping strategy to mitigate noise from thecentral star and thermal background within the habitable zone. We focus on thelessons of the VLT/NEAR campaign to improve futureinstrumentation--specifically on strategies to improve noise mitigation throughchopping. We also present the design and commissioning of the Large BinocularTelescope's Exploratory Survey for Super-Earths Orbiting Nearby Stars(LESSONS), an experiment in the Northern hemisphere that is building on whatwas learned from NEAR to further push the sensitivity of mid-IR imaging.Finally, we briefly discuss some of the possibilities that mid-IR imaging willenable for exoplanet science.

Imaging low-mass planets within the habitable zones of nearby stars with ground-based mid-infrared imaging