Robo-AO Kepler Planetary Candidate Survey III: Adaptive Optics Imaging of 1629 Kepler Exoplanet Candidate Host Stars

Robo-AO Kepler Planetary Candidate Survey III: Adaptive Optics Imaging of 1629 Kepler Exoplanet Candidate Host Stars

Authors:

Ziegler et al

Abstract:

The Robo-AO \textit{Kepler} Planetary Candidate Survey is observing every \textit{Kepler} planet candidate host star with laser adaptive optics imaging to search for blended nearby stars, which may be physically associated companions and/or responsible for transit false positives. We present in this paper the results of our search for stars nearby 1629 \textit{Kepler} planet candidate hosts. With survey sensitivity to objects as close as ∼0.15" and magnitude differences Δm≤6, we find 223 stars in the vicinity of 206 target KOIs; 209 of these nearby stars have not previously been imaged in high resolution. We measure an overall nearby-star probability for \textit{Kepler} planet candidates of 12.6\%±0.9\% out to a separation of 4.0". Particularly interesting KOI systems are discussed, including 23 stars with detected companions which host rocky, habitable zone candidates, and five new candidate planet-hosting quadruple star systems. We explore the broad correlations between planetary systems and stellar binarity using the combined dataset of \citet{baranec16} and this paper. Our previous 2σ result of a low binary fraction of KOIs hosting close-in giant planets is less apparent in this larger dataset. We also find a significant correlation between binary fraction and KOI number, suggesting possible variation between early and late \textit{Kepler} data releases.

Using 'smoothed light' to Detect ExoEarths?

Physicists of MIPT (Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology) and the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences developed optical technology for the "correction" of light coming from distant stars, which will significantly improve the "seeing" of telescopes and therefore will enable us to directly observe exoplanets as Earth-twins. Their work has been published in the Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems (JATIS).

The first exoplanets (extra solar planets), which are the planets outside our solar system, had been discovered in the late 20th century, and now we have detected of more than two thousand of them. It is almost impossible to see the faint light of the planets themselves without special tools -- it is saturated "overshadowed" by the radiation of parent star. Therefore exoplanets are discovered by indirect methods: by registration of the weak periodic fluctuations in the luminosity of the star when a planet passes in front of its disk (the transit method), or by spectral translational vibrations of the star itself from the impact of the planet's gravity (the radial-velocity method). For the first time, in the late 2000s, astronomers were able to directly obtain images of exoplanets. So far we have about 65 of such images. To obtain them, the scientists use stellar coronagraphs first created in 1930s for observations of the solar corona outside eclipses known as solar coronagraphs. These devices have a focal mask - an "artificial moon" inside them, which blocks some part of the field of view -- ultimately, it covers the solar disk, allowing you to see the dim solar corona.

To repeat this technique for the stars, we need a much higher level of accuracy and much higher resolution of the telescope, which accommodates a coronagraph. Apparent size of the orbit of Earth-type planets, nearest to us, is about 0.1 arcseconds. This is close to the resolution limit of modern space telescopes (for example, the resolution of the space telescope Hubble is about 0.05 seconds). To remove the effects of atmospheric distortions in ground-based telescopes, scientists use adaptive optics -- mirrors that can change shape while adjusting to the state of the atmosphere. In some cases, the mirror shape can be maintained with an accuracy of 1 nanometer, but such systems do not keep pace with the dynamics of atmospheric changes and are extremely expensive.

A team led by Alexander Tavrov, an associate professor at MIPT and the Head of the Planetary Astronomy Laboratory at the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, has found a way to obtain the highest resolution, while using relatively simple and inexpensive systems of adaptive optics.

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Designing a Space Telescope to Directly Image a World in Alpha Centauri's Habitable Zone

Space telescope design to directly image the habitable zone of Alpha Centauri

Authors:

Bendek et al

Abstract:

The scientific interest in directly image and identifying Earth-like planets within the Habitable Zone (HZ) around nearby stars is driving the design of specialized direct imaging mission such as ACESAT, EXO-C, EXO-S and AFTA-C. The inner edge of Alpha Cen A and B Habitable Zone is found at exceptionally large angular separations of 0.7 and 0.4 arcseconds respectively. This enables direct imaging of the system with a 0.3m class telescope. Contrast ratios in the order of 1e-10 are needed to image Earth-brightness planets. Low-resolution (5-band) spectra of all planets, will allow establishing the presence and amount of an atmosphere. This star system configuration is optimal for a specialized small, and stable space telescope, that can achieve high-contrast but has limited resolution. This paper describes an innovative instrument design and a mission concept based on a full Silicon Carbide off-axis telescope, which has a Phase Induce Amplitude Apodization coronagraph embedded in the telescope. This architecture maximizes stability and throughput. A Multi-Star Wave Front algorithm is implemented to drive a deformable mirror controlling simultaneously diffracted light from the on-axis and binary companion star. The instrument has a Focal Plane Occulter to reject starlight into a high-precision pointing control camera. Finally we utilize a Orbital Differential Imaging (ODI) post-processing method that takes advantage of a highly stable environment (Earth-trailing orbit) and a continuous sequence of images spanning 2 years, to reduce the final noise floor in post processing to 2e-11 levels, enabling high confidence and at least 90 percent completeness detections of Earth-like planets.

Magellan Adaptive Optics can now Directly Image Exoplanets in the Habitable Zone

Direct imaging of exoplanets in the habitable zone with adaptive optics

Authors:

Males et al

Abstract:

One of the primary goals of exoplanet science is to find and characterize habitable planets, and direct imaging will play a key role in this effort. Though imaging a true Earth analog is likely out of reach from the ground, the coming generation of giant telescopes will find and characterize many planets in and near the habitable zones (HZs) of nearby stars. Radial velocity and transit searches indicate that such planets are common, but imaging them will require achieving extreme contrasts at very small angular separations, posing many challenges for adaptive optics (AO) system design. Giant planets in the HZ may even be within reach with the latest generation of high-contrast imagers for a handful of very nearby stars. Here we will review the definition of the HZ, and the characteristics of detectable planets there. We then review some of the ways that direct imaging in the HZ will be different from the typical exoplanet imaging survey today. Finally, we present preliminary results from our observations of the HZ of {\alpha} Centauri A with the Magellan AO system's VisAO and Clio2 cameras.

beta Pictoris b Directly Imaged for First Time by Ground Based Telescope

University of Arizona researchers snapped images of a planet outside our solar system with an Earth-based telescope using essentially the same type of imaging sensor found in digital cameras instead of an infrared detector. Although the technology still has a very long way to go, the accomplishment takes astronomers a small step closer to what will be needed to image earth-like planets around other stars

"This is an important next step in the search for exoplanets because imaging in visible light instead of infrared is what we likely have to do if we want to detect planets that might be suitable for harboring life," said Jared Males, a NASA Sagan Fellow in the UA's Department of Astronomy and Steward Observatory and lead author on a report to be published in The Astrophysical Journal.

Even though the image was taken at a wavelength that is just shy of being visible to the human eye, the use of a digital camera-type imaging sensor – called a charge-coupled device or CCD – opens up the possibility of imaging planets in visible light, which has not been possible previously with Earth-based telescopes.

"This is exciting to astronomers because it means we now are a small step closer to being able to image planets outside our solar system in visible light," said Laird Close, a professor in the Department of Astronomy, who co-authored the paper.

He explained that all the other Earth-based images taken of exoplanets close to their stars are infrared images, which detect the planets' heat. This limits the technology to Gas Giants – massive, hot planets young enough to still shed heat. In contrast, older, possibly habitable planets that have cooled since their formation don't show up in infrared images as readily, and to image them, astronomers will have to rely on cameras capable of detecting visible light.

"Our ultimate goal is to be able to image what we call pale blue dots," Close said. "After all, the Earth is blue. And that's where you want to look for other planets: in reflected blue light."

The photographed planet, called Beta Pictoris b, orbits its star at only nine times the Earth-Sun distance, making its orbit smaller than Saturn's. In the team's CCD images, Beta Pictoris b appears about 100,000 times fainter than its host star, making it the faintest object imaged so far at such high contrast and at such relative proximity to its star. The new images of this planet helped confirm that its atmosphere is at a temperature of roughly 2600 degrees Fahrenheit (1700 Kelvin). The team estimates that Beta Pictoris b weighs in at about 12 times the mass of Jupiter.

"Because the Beta Pictoris system is 63.4 light years from Earth, the scenario is equivalent to imaging a dime next right next to a lighthouse beam from more than four miles away," Males said. "Our image has the highest contrast ever achieved on an exoplanet that is so close to its star."

The contrast in brightness between the bright star and the faint planet is similar to the height of a 4-inch molehill next to Mount Everest, Close explained.

In addition to the host star's overwhelming brightness, the astronomers had to overcome the turbulence in Earth's atmosphere, which causes stars to twinkle and telescope images to blur. The success reported here is mostly due to an adaptive optics system developed by Close and his team that eliminates much of the atmosphere's effect. The Magellan Adaptive Optics technology is very good at removing this turbulence, or blurring, by means of a deformable mirror changing shape 1,000 times each second in real time.

link.

paper link when it comes available.