Related papers: From Exoplanets to Quasars: Adventures in Angular …
We present initial results from a Magellan telescope program to image galaxies that give rise to damped Lyman absorbers (DLAs) at 1.63 < z_DLA < 2.37. Our program differs from previous efforts in that we target quasars with intervening…
Quasars accreting matter at very high rates (known as extreme Population A [xA] quasars, possibly associated with super-Eddington accreting massive black holes) may provide a new class of distance indicators covering cosmic epochs from…
The production of pairs of entangled photons simply by focusing a laser beam onto a crystal with a non-linear optical response was used to test quantum mechanics and to open new approaches in imaging. The development of the latter was…
Here the role and influence of aberrations in optical imaging systems employing partially coherent complex scalar fields is studied. Imaging systems require aberrations to yield contrast in the output image. For linear shift-invariant…
The direct observation of cold and temperate planets within 1 to 10 AU would be extremely valuable for uncovering their atmospheric compositions but remains a formidable challenge with current astronomical methods. Ground-based optical…
One of the top remaining science challenges in astronomical optics is the direct imaging and characterization of extrasolar planets and planetary systems. Directly imaging exoplanets from ground-based observatories requires combining…
External occulters, otherwise known as starshades, have been proposed as a solution to one of the highest priority yet technically vexing problems facing astrophysics - the direct imaging and characterization of terrestrial planets around…
Direct imaging of exoplanets requires very high contrast levels, which are obtained using coronagraphs. But residual quasi-static aberrations create speckles in the focal plane downstream of the coronagraph which mask the planet. This…
General arguments for optimized coronagraphy in the search for planets are presented. First, off-axis telescopes provide the best telescopic platforms for use with coronagraphy, and telescope fabrication technology now allows the…
Direct detection of exoplanets requires high dynamic range imaging. Coronagraphs could be the solution, but their performance in space is limited by wavefront errors (manufacturing errors on optics, temperature variations, etc.), which…
Lyman-alpha absorption is a prominent cosmological tool for probing both galactic halos and the intergalactic medium at high redshift. We consider a variety of sources that can be used as the Lyman-alpha emitters for this purpose. Among…
We suggest a new approach to search for galactic axions or other similar exotica. Streaming dark matter (DM) could have a better discovery potential because of flux enhancement, due to gravitational lensing when the Sun and/or a planet are…
The field of astronomy is experiencing a data explosion driven by significant advances in observational instrumentation, and classical methods often fall short of addressing the complexity of modern astronomical datasets. Probabilistic…
The field of exoplanets has rapidly expanded from the exclusivity of exoplanet detection to include exoplanet characterization. A key step towards this characterization will be retrieval of planetary albedos and rotation rates from highly…
Indirect searches for products of dark matter annihilation and decay face the challenge of identifying an uncertain and subdominant signal in the presence of uncertain backgrounds. Two valuable approaches to this problem are (1) using…
The analysis of exoplanetary atmospheres by means of high-resolution spectroscopy is an expanding research field which provides information on chemical composition, thermal structure, atmospheric dynamics and orbital velocity of exoplanets.…
The characterization of nearby rocky exoplanets will become feasible with the next generation of telescopes, such as the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) and the mission concept Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO). Using an improved model…
Giant exoplanets on wide orbits have been directly imaged around young stars. If the thermal background in the mid-infrared can be mitigated, then exoplanets with lower masses can also be imaged. Here we present a ground-based mid-infrared…
The varied surfaces and atmospheres of planets make them interesting places to live, explore, and study from afar. Unfortunately, the great distance to exoplanets makes it impossible to resolve their disk with current or near-term…
Recent developments of dynamic x-ray characterization experiments of dense matter are reviewed, with particular emphasis on conditions relevant to interiors of terrestrial and gas giant planets. These studies include characterization of…