exoplanets

Self-optimizing adaptive optics control with reinforcement learning for high-contrast imaging

Current and future high-contrast imaging instruments require extreme adaptive optics systems to reach contrasts necessary to directly imaged exoplanets. Telescope vibrations and the temporal error induced by the latency of the control loop limit the …

A MUSE view of the asymmetric jet from HD 163296

Context. Jets and outflows are thought to play important roles in regulating star formation and disk evolution. An important question is how the jets are launched. HD 163296 is a well- studied Herbig Ae star that hosts proto-planet candidates, a …

The vector-apodizing phase plate coronagraph: design, current performance, and future development

Over the last decade, the vector-apodizing phase plate (vAPP) coronagraph has been developed from concept to on-sky application in many high-contrast imaging systems on 8-m class telescopes. The vAPP is an geometric-phase patterned coronagraph that …

A survey of the linear polarization of directly imaged exoplanets and brown dwarf companions with SPHERE-IRDIS. First polarimetric detections revealing disks around DH Tau B and GSC 6214-210 B

Context. Young giant planets and brown dwarf companions emit near- infrared radiation that can be linearly polarized up to several percent. This polarization can reveal the presence of an (unresolved) circumsubstellar accretion disk, rotation-induced …

PCS — A Roadmap for Exoearth Imaging with the ELT

The Planetary Camera and Spectrograph (PCS) for the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) will be dedicated to detecting and characterising nearby exoplanets with sizes from sub-Neptune to Earth-size in the neighbourhood of the Sun. This goal is achieved …

Focal plane wavefront sensing on SUBARU/SCExAO

Focal plane wavefront sensing is an elegant solution for wavefront sensing since near-focal images of any source taken by a detector show distortions in the presence of aberrations. Non- Common Path Aberrations and the Low Wind Effect both have the …

Planet formation with all flavors of adaptive optics: VLT/MUSE's laser tomography adaptive optics to directly image young accreting exoplanets

We present recent results obtained with the VLT/MUSE Integral Field Spectrograph fed by the 4LGSF and its laser tomography adaptive optics module GALACSI. While this so-called narrow-field mode of MUSE was not designed to perform directly imaging of …

Prediction of the planet yield of the MaxProtoPlanetS high-contrast survey for H-alpha protoplanets with MagAO-X based on first light contrasts

Our past GAPplanetS survey over the last 5 years with the MagAO visible AO system discovered the first examples of accreting protoplanets (by direct observation of H-alpha emission). Examples include LkCa15 b (Sallum et al. 2015) and PDS70 b (Wagner …

Searching for proto-planets with MUSE

Context. Protoplanetary disks contain structures such as gaps, rings, and spirals, which are thought to be produced by the interaction between the disk and embedded protoplanets. However, only a few planet candidates are found orbiting within …

SPHERE+

Upgrade of SPHERE at the VLT.