exoplanets; instrumentation; adaptive optics; coronagraphy; data analysis
Abstract :
[en] The mid-infrared (IR) regime is well suited to directly detect the thermal signatures of exoplanets in our solar neighborhood. The NEAR experiment: demonstration of high-contrast imaging (HCI) capability at ten microns, can reach sub-mJy detection sensitivity in a few hours of observation time, which is sufficient to detect a few Jupiter mass planets in nearby systems. One of the big limitations for HCI in the mid-IR is thermal sky-background. In this work, we show that precipitate water vapor (PWV) is the principal contributor to thermal sky background and science PSF quality. In the presence of high PWV, the HCI performance is significantly degraded in the background limited regime.
Research Center/Unit :
STAR - Space sciences, Technologies and Astrophysics Research - ULiège
Disciplines :
Space science, astronomy & astrophysics
Author, co-author :
Pathak, Prashant ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'astrophysique, géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Planetary & Stellar systems Imaging Laboratory
Kasper, Markus; European Southern Observatory, Germany
Absil, Olivier ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'astrophysique, géophysique et océanographie (AGO)
Orban De Xivry, Gilles ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Unités de recherche interfacultaires > Space sciences, Technologies and Astrophysics Research (STAR)
Käufl, Ulli; European Southern Observatory, Germany
Jakob, Gerd; European Southern Observatory, Germany
Siebenmorgen, Ralf; European Southern Observatory, Germany
Leveratto, Serban; European Southern Observatory, Germany
Pantin, Eric; CEA Saclay, Service d'Astrophysique
Language :
English
Title :
Lessons learned from the NEAR experiment and prospects for the upcoming mid-IR HCI instruments
Quanz, S. P., Crossfield, I., Meyer, M. R., Schmalzl, E., and Held, J., “Direct detection of exoplanets in the 3-10 µm range with E-ELT/METIS,” International Journal of Astrobiology 14, 279-289 (Apr. 2015).
Kasper, M., Arsenault, R., Käufl, H. U., Jakob, G., Fuenteseca, E., Riquelme, M., Siebenmorgen, R., Sterzik, M., Zins, G., Ageorges, N., Gutruf, S., Reutlinger, A., Kampf, D., Absil, O., Carlomagno, B., Guyon, O., Klupar, P., Mawet, D., Ruane, G., Karlsson, M., Pantin, E., and Dohlen, K., “NEAR: Low-mass Planets in α Cen with VISIR,” The Messenger 169, 16-20 (Sept. 2017).
Kasper, M., Arsenault, R., Käufl, U., Jakob, G., Leveratto, S., Zins, G., Pantin, E., Duhoux, P., Riquelme, M., Kirchbauer, J. P., Kolb, J., Pathak, P., Siebenmorgen, R., Soenke, C., Fuenteseca, E., Sterzik, M., Ageorges, N., Gutruf, S., Kampf, D., Reutlinger, A., Absil, O., Delacroix, C., Maire, A. L., Huby, E., Guyon, O., Klupar, P., Mawet, D., Ruane, G., Karlsson, M., Dohlen, K., Vigan, A., N'Diaye, M., Quanz, S., and Carlotti, A., “NEAR: First Results from the Search for Low-Mass Planets in α Cen,” The Messenger 178, 5-9 (Dec. 2019).
Lagage, P. O., Pel, J. W., Authier, M., Belorgey, J., Claret, A., Doucet, C., Dubreuil, D., Durand, G., Elswijk, E., Girardot, P., Käufl, H. U., Kroes, G., Lortholary, M., Lussignol, Y., Marchesi, M., Pantin, E., Peletier, R., Pirard, J. F., Pragt, J., Rio, Y., Schoenmaker, T., Siebenmorgen, R., Silber, A., Smette, A., Sterzik, M., and Veyssiere, C., “Successful Commissioning of VISIR: The Mid-Infrared VLT Instrument,” The Messenger 117, 12-16 (Sept. 2004).
Wagner, K., Boehle, A., Pathak, P., Kasper, M., Arsenault, R., Jakob, G., Käufl, U., Leveratto, S., Maire, A.-L., Pantin, E., Siebenmorgen, R., Zins, G., Absil, O., Ageorges, N., Apai, D., Carlotti, A., Choquet, É., Delacroix, C., Dohlen, K., Duhoux, P., Forsberg, P., Fuenteseca, E., Gutruf, S., Guyon, O., Huby, E., Kampf, D., Karlsson, M., Kervella, P., Kirchbauer, J.-P., Klupar, P., Kolb, J., Mawet, D., N'Diaye, M., Orban de Xivry, G., Quanz, S. P., Reutlinger, A., Ruane, G., Riquelme, M., Soenke, C., Sterzik, M., Vigan, A., and de Zeeuw, T., “Imaging low-mass planets within the habitable zone of α centauri,” Nature Communications 12, 922 (Feb 2021).
Le Coroller, H., Nowak, M., Wagner, K., Kasper, M., Chauvin, G., Desgrange, C., and Conseil, S., “Efficiently combining Alpha CenA multi-epoch high-contrast imaging data. Application of K-Stacker to the 80 hrs NEAR campaign,” arXiv e-prints, arXiv:2207.02137 (July 2022).
Pathak, P., Petit dit de la Roche, D. J. M., Kasper, M., Sterzik, M., Absil, O., Boehle, A., Feng, F., Ivanov, V. D., Janson, M., Jones, H. R. A., Kaufer, A., Käufl, H. U., Maire, A. L., Meyer, M., Pantin, E., Siebenmorgen, R., van den Ancker, M. E., and Viswanath, G., “High-contrast imaging at ten microns: A search for exoplanets around Eps Indi A, Eps Eri, Tau Ceti, Sirius A, and Sirius B,” Astronomy & Astrophysics 652, A121 (Aug. 2021).
Maire, A.-L., Huby, E., Absil, O., Zins, G., Kasper, M., Delacroix, C., Leveratto, S., Karlsson, M., Ruane, G., Käufl, H.-U., de Xivry, G. O., Pathak, P., Pettazzi, L., Duhoux, P., Kolb, J., Éric Pantin, Riggs, A. J. E., Siebenmorgen, R., and Mawet, D., “Design, pointing control, and on-sky performance of the mid-infrared vortex coronagraph for the VLT/NEAR experiment,” Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems 6(3), 1-16 (2020).
Arrington, D. C., Hubbs, J. E., Gramer, M. E., and Dole, G. A., “Impact of excess low-frequency noise (ELFN) in Si:As impurity band conduction (IBC) focal plane arrays for astronomical applications,” in [Infrared Detectors and Focal Plane Arrays V], Dereniak, E. L. and Sampson, R. E., eds., Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) Conference Series 3379, 361-370 (July 1998).
Sandrock, S., Amestica, R., Duhoux, P., Navarrete, J., and Sarazin, M. S., “VLT astronomical site monitor: control, automation, and data flow,” in [Advanced Telescope and Instrumentation Control Software], Lewis, H., ed., Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) Conference Series 4009, 338-349 (June 2000).
Gomez Gonzalez, C. A., Wertz, O., Absil, O., Christiaens, V., Defrère, D., Mawet, D., Milli, J., Absil, P.-A., Van Droogenbroeck, M., Cantalloube, F., Hinz, P. M., Skemer, A. J., Karlsson, M., and Surdej, J., “VIP: Vortex Image Processing Package for High-contrast Direct Imaging,” The Astronomical Journal 154, 7 (July 2017).
Cabrera, M. S., McMurtry, C. W., Dorn, M. L., Forrest, W. J., Pipher, J. L., and Lee, D., “Development of 13-µm cutoff HgCdTe detector arrays for astronomy,” Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems 5, 036005 (July 2019).
Turchi, A., Masciadri, E., Pathak, P., and Kasper, M., “High-accuracy short-term precipitable water-vapour operational forecast at the Very Large Telescope and perspectives for sky background forecast,” mnras 497, 4910-4920 (Aug. 2020).
