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High-contrast imaging with AO

High-contrast imaging with AO. Claire Max with help of Bruce Macintosh GSMT Science Working Group December 2002. Types of high-contrast AO imaging. Point sources near bright stars: images and spectra Brown dwarfs Young Jupiters (still shining in IR)

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High-contrast imaging with AO

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  1. High-contrast imaging with AO Claire Max with help of Bruce Macintosh GSMT Science Working Group December 2002

  2. Types of high-contrast AO imaging • Point sources near bright stars: images and spectra • Brown dwarfs • Young Jupiters (still shining in IR) • Older Jupiters shining by reflected light • Ultimately, Earth-like planets (?) • Disks • Debris disks best observed in thermal IR: good motivation for separate cooled AO system aimed at mid-IR • Protostellar and protoplanetary disks • Have proven to be a challenge for current AO systems • But AO polarimetry is VERY promising

  3. Context • All detailed AO simulation results are for 8-10m telescopes • Simulations for 30m telescopes still need to be done

  4. Extreme AO Phase Space (Impressionistic chart originally done for 10m telescope)

  5. Young vs. old Jupiters

  6. Point-source sensitivities of Keck AO, NICMOS

  7. Current examples of high contrast images • High Dynamic Range at modest separations (~1 arc sec) • Existence supported by disk structures • Confirmation by proper motion essential • Current 8-10m contrast ratios: ~106 Keck AO image showing a candidate for young extra-solar planet (224 AU, 3-7 MJ, if confirmed) NICMOS image of HD141569 Showing gap at 250 AU possibly created by wide planet(s)

  8. “Extreme” AO

  9. Keck AO simulations

  10. Detection of Jupiters in reflected light 30m telescopes Q

  11. Imaging AO polarimetry is central to detecting structure in circumstellar disks • Dan Potter, UH

  12. Disk Structures with AO Polarimetry • Lick AO Near-infrared polarimetry studies • Measure two orthogonal polarization states simultaneously, subtract to get only polarized light (dust only!) • Dan Potter (UH), Marshall Perrin (UC Berkeley - Lick) I Q U P R Mon results LkHa 234

  13. Points to importance of differential detection methods • Polarimetry • Comparison of different spectral bands • Example: methane vs. non-methane • Integral field AO spectrographs will be inherently very capable for this task

  14. Summary • Current state of the art for AO on 8-10m telescopes: • Contrast ratio of ~ 106 at separation of ~1 arc sec • Polarimetry, coronagraphy, two-color detection will be very important • “Extreme AO” under active investigation • “Extreme AO” on 8-10m telescopes will increase this by factor of 10 - 50 • Can clearly do Jupiters (young and old); Uranus-Neptune • Critical issues: • Can Extreme AO on GSMT detect Earthlike planets?? • Specifically how does AO performance affect the various GSMT Science Cases? • How will GSMT performance compare with JWST?

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