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We use Monte Carlo simulations to estimate the number of extrasolar planets that are directly detectable in the solar-neighborhood using current and forthcoming high-contrast imaging instruments. Our calculations take into account the…
Chang-Refsdal (C-R) lensing, which refers to the gravitational lensing of a point mass perturbed by a constant external shear, provides a good approximation in describing lensing behaviors of either a very wide or a very close binary lens.…
For much of human history we have wondered how our solar system formed, and whether there are any other planets like ours around other stars. Only in the last 20 years have we had direct evidence for the existence of exoplanets, with the…
The next generation of ground and space-based telescopes will image habitable planets around nearby stars. A growing literature describes how to characterize such planets with spectroscopy, but less consideration has been given to the…
Exoplanets are abundant in our galaxy and yet characterizing them remains a technical challenge. Solar System planets provide an opportunity to test the practical limitations of exoplanet observations with high signal-to-noise data that we…
Exoplanet occurrence rates facilitate comparisons between observations of planets and theoretical models of planet formation. Despite their deductive power, exoplanet occurrence rates for half the stars in the sky are missing because…
Recent surveys indicate that planets in binary systems are more abundant than previously thought, which is in agreement with theoretical work on disc dynamics and planet formation in binaries. In order to measure the abundance and physical…
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…
Given the considerable percentage of stars that are members of binaries or stellar multiples in the Solar neighborhood, it is expected that many of these binaries host planets, possibly even habitable ones. The discovery of a terrestrial…
We consider the possibility of detecting and tracking the hypothesized Planet 9 or other unknown planetary-mass distant solar system members, generically called Planet X, with a combination of CMB and optical imaging surveys. Planets are…
Direct imaging and spectroscopy is the likely means by which we will someday identify, confirm, and characterize an Earth-like planet around a nearby Sun-like star. This Chapter summarizes the current state of knowledge regarding…
The discovery of circumbinary planets (CBPs) has advanced our understanding of planet formation and dynamical evolution in complex environments. However, the population of such planets remains small, leading their underlying physical…
High-contrast adaptive optics imaging is a powerful technique to probe the architectures of planetary systems from the outside-in and survey the atmospheres of self-luminous giant planets. Direct imaging has rapidly matured over the past…
High contrast direct imaging of exoplanets can provide many important observables, including measurements of the orbit, spectra that probe the lower layers of the atmosphere, and phase variations of the planet, but cannot directly measure…
Transmission and eclipse spectroscopy have been invaluable tools for the characterisation of extrasolar planet atmospheres. While they will continue to provide many new insights and discoveries in the decade(s) to come, these methods are…
When directly imaging a cold giant exoplanet hosting a ring system, the reflected light from the rings can outshine the planet's thermal emission and reflected-light in the near-infrared. Consequently, an exoring may be detectable at a…
Gravitational microlensing occurs when a foreground star happens to pass very close to our line of sight to a more distant background star. The foreground star acts as a lens, splitting the light from the source star into two images, which…
The new generation of observatories and instruments (VLT/ERIS, JWST, ELT) motivate the development of robust methods to detect and characterise faint and close-in exoplanets. Molecular mapping and cross-correlation for spectroscopy use…
Future NASA concept missions that are currently under study, like Habitable Exoplanet Imaging Mission (HabEx) & Large Ultra-Violet Optical Infra Red (LUVOIR) Surveyor, would discover a large diversity of exoplanets. We propose here a…
Extrasolar planets observation and characterization by high contrast imaging instruments is set to be a very important subject in observational astronomy. Dedicated instruments are being developed to achieve this goal with very high…