Emerging Science Capabilities of Modern Adaptive Optics Systems for Exoplanet and Stellar Astrophysics
Abstract
In this dissertation talk, I discuss new science capabilities enabled by the latest generation of adaptive optics systems in the context of faint companion detection and characterization. I address two regimes of adaptive optics: 1) extreme-AO systems that are combined with coronagraphs to detect companions many times fainter than their parent stars; 2) AO systems that are designed to maximize observing efficiency. GPI and SPHERE, two recent extreme-AO high contrast spectro-polarimeters, embody the first regime. These instruments’ design and sensitivity open up the possibility of a new observable for exoplanet characterization: polarized radiation from self-luminous, directly imaged exoplanets in the near-infrared. As part of my dissertation, I demonstrated that GPI can detect linear polarizations on the 1% scale predicted for cloudy, oblate gas giant exoplanets. Future polarimetric surveys will provide the empirical data needed to build the next generation of cloudy atmospheric models, shedding new light on the compositions of exoplanet atmospheres. The second regime of efficiency-optimized adaptive optics is embodied by Robo-AO, a robotic laser guide star AO system newly installed at the Kitt Peak 2.1-m telescope. Capable of observing over 1000 targets per week, Robo-AO enables LGS-AO surveys of unprecedented scale. I exploited Robo-AO’s efficiency to study the origins of stellar angular momentum: by resolving binaries from among the 700+ Pleiades members observed by K2, I related binary separations to K2’s photometrically determined rotation periods. In this talk, I will also describe Robo-AO’s commissioning at the 2.1-m and subsequent pipeline development.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #229
- Pub Date:
- January 2017
- Bibcode:
- 2017AAS...22912007J