Related papers: High-resolution imaging at the SOAR telescope

The Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) has two 8.4-m primary mirrors that produce beams that can be combined coherently in a "Fizeau" interferometric mode. In principle, the Fizeau PSF enables the probing of structure at a resolution up to…

Exoplanet imaging has thus far enabled studies of wide-orbit ($>$10 AU) giant planet ($>$2 Jupiter masses) formation and giant planet atmospheres, with future 30 meter-class Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs) needed to image and characterize…

Context. A key property of massive stars is their high degree of multiplicity, which can impact their evolution and end-of-life products. The Southern Massive Stars at High Angular Resolution survey (smash+) use interferometric and…

Current and future high contrast imaging instruments aim to detect exoplanets at closer orbital separations, lower masses, and/or older ages than their predecessors. However, continually evolving speckles in the coronagraphic science image…

We present performance simulations for a proposed visible-light, multi-conjugate adaptive optics system for the 10-meter W. M. Keck I telescope that aims to deliver near diffraction-limited angular resolution at optical wavelengths. Our…

We describe the preliminary optimized layout for a partially optimized concept of an optical-8m class VLT-like 2x2 segmented camera where each channel is assisted by an equivalent of an MCAO system where the ground layer correction is…

Lucky imaging is a technique for high resolution astronomical imaging at visible wavelengths, utilising medium sized ground based telescopes in the 2--4m class. The technique uses high speed, low noise cameras to record short exposures…

We have used the NICMOS NIC1 camera on the Hubble Space Telescope to obtain high angular resolution images of 51 ultracool dwarfs in the immediate Solar Neighbourhood. Nine systems are resolved as binary, with component separations from 1.5…

Orbital solutions for binary or multiple stellar systems that combine astrometry (e.g., position angles and angular separations) with spectroscopy (radial velocities) have important advantages over astrometric-only or spectroscopic-only…

The combination of Lucky Imaging with a low order adaptive optics system was demonstrated very successfully on the Palomar 5m telescope nearly 10 years ago. It is still the only system to give such high-resolution images in the visible or…

We present updated results of a high-resolution, magnitude limited (Ks<12 mag) imaging survey of nearby low-mass M6.0-M7.5 field stars. The observations were carried out using adaptive optics at the Gemini North, VLT, Keck II, and Subaru…

We have performed a Keck adaptive optics (AO) imaging survey of 25 extrasolar planetary systems discovered by the radial velocity programs. Typically, the high-resolution (FWHM~0.04") near-infrared images are able to detect point sources at…

We report the experimental preparation of optical superpositions of high orbital angular momenta(OAM). Our method is based on the use of spatial light modulator to modify the standard Laguerre-Gaussian beams to bear excessive phase helices.…

The far-field resolution of optical imaging systems is restricted by the Abbe diffraction limit, a direct result of the wave nature of light. One successful technological approach to circumventing this limit is to reduce the effective size…

The exoplanetary science through direct imaging and spectroscopy will largely expand with the forthcoming development of new instruments at the VLT (SPHERE), Gemini (GPI), Subaru (HiCIAO), and Palomar (Project 1640) observatories. All these…

The direct images of giant extrasolar planets recently obtained around several main sequence stars represent a major step in the study of planetary systems. These high-dynamic range images are among the most striking results obtained by the…

We explore the possibility of detecting very faint, very close-in stellar companions using large aperture ground-based telescopes and the technique of optical speckle imaging. We examine the state of high angular resolution speckle imaging…

Space-based photometry has substantially increased the number of pulsating stars found in binary systems by more than four orders of magnitude. Combined with high-resolution spectroscopy, high-precision photometry offers model-independent…

We have conducted a 1.5 year-long variability study of the stars in the Cygnus OB2 association, the region in the northern hemisphere with the highest density of optically visible massive stars. The survey was conducted using four pointings…

One of the most important techniques for astrophysics with adaptive optics is the ability to do spectroscopy at diffraction limited scales. The extreme difficulty of positioning a faint target accurately on a very narrow slit can be avoided…