Related papers: From Exoplanets to Quasars: Adventures in Angular …

Directly imaging extrasolar planets using a monolithic optical telescope avoids many pitfalls of space interferometry and opens up the prospect of visible light studies of extrasolar planetary systems. Future astronomical missions may…

Detection of weak radial velocity shifts of host stars induced by orbiting planets is an important technique for discovering and characterizing planets beyond our solar system. Optical frequency combs enable calibration of stellar radial…

We are now on a clear trajectory for improvements in exoplanet observations that will revolutionize our ability to characterize their atmospheric structure, composition, and circulation, from gas giants to rocky planets. However, exoplanet…

The challenges of high contrast imaging (HCI) for detecting exoplanets for both ground and space applications can be met with extreme adaptive optics (ExAO), a high-order adaptive optics system that performs wavefront sensing (WFS) and…

We propose a new kind of interferometric array that yields images of high dynamic range and large field. The numerous individual apertures in this array form a pattern related to a Fresnel zone plate. This array can be used for…

A spectrograph is an optical instrument that disperses photons of different energies into distinct directions and space locations, and images photon spectra on a position-sensitive detector. Spectrographs consist of collimating, angular…

We propose to search for biosignatures in the spectra of reflected light from about 100 Earth-sized planets that are already known to be orbiting in their habitable zones (HZ). For a sample of G and K type hosts, most of these planets will…

Weird galaxies are outliers that have either unknown or very uncommon features making them different from the normal sample. These galaxies are very interesting as they may provide new insights into current theories, or can be used to form…

In the two decades since the first extra-solar planet was discovered, the detection and characterization of extra-solar planets has become one of the key endeavors in all of modern science. Recently direct detection techniques such as…

We present a proof of concept for a new algorithm which can be used to detect exoplanets in high contrast images. The algorithm properly combines mutliple observations acquired during different nights, taking into account the orbital motion…

With close pairs of quasars at different redshifts, a background quasar sightline can be used to study a foreground quasar's environment in absorption. We search 149 moderate resolution background quasar spectra, from Gemini, Keck, the MMT,…

We present the scientific performance results of PynPoint, our Python-based software package that uses principle component analysis to detect and estimate the flux of exoplanets in two dimensional imaging data. Recent advances in adaptive…

Understanding a planet's atmosphere is a necessary condition for understanding not only the planet itself, but also its formation, structure, evolution, and habitability, This puts a premium on obtaining spectra, and developing credible…

Since the first discovery of an extra-solar planet around a main-sequence star, in 1995, the number of detected exoplanets has increased enormously. Over the past two decades, observational instruments (both onboard and on ground-based…

Exoplanets are now being discovered in profusion. However, to understand their character requires spectral models and data. These elements of remote sensing can yield temperatures, compositions, and even weather patterns, but only if…

Explore alien solar systems via local star power using interstellar photovoltaics, tailored for the particular target star for maximum power and low mass. We consider tailored organic thin-film photovoltaics. Key for sensing, sending more…

Recent years have seen tremendous progress in our understanding of the extreme universe, which in turn points to even deeper questions to be further addressed. History has shown that the symbiosis between direct observations and laboratory…

Modern astronomical surveys are producing datasets of unprecedented size and richness, increasing the potential for high-impact scientific discovery. This possibility, coupled with the challenge of exploring a large number of sources, has…

Ground-based telescopes coupled with adaptive optics (AO) have been playing a leading role in exoplanet direct imaging science and technological development for the past two decades and will continue to have an indispensable role for the…

This year, a second generation of coronagraphs dedicated to high-contrast direct imaging of exoplanets is starting operations. Among them, SPHERE, installed at the focus of the UT3 Very Large Telescope, reaches unprecedented contrast ratios…