Related papers: Efficient detection and characterization of exopla…
Photonic lanterns (PLs) are fiber-based waveguides that are capable of focal-plane wavefront sensing while simultaneously directing light to downstream science instruments. The optimal choice of wavefront reconstruction algorithm has yet to…
In the last years, the Observatory of Padova (Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica - Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova) and the University of Padova have been involved massively in projects dedicated to the exoplanets search, both ground, and…
Direct exoplanet detection is limited by speckle noise in the point spread function (PSF) of the central star. This noise can be reduced by subtracting PSF images obtained simultaneously in adjacent narrow spectral bands using a…
We report a method that uses "completeness" to estimate the number of exrasolar planets discovered by an observing program with a direct-imaging instrument. We develop a completeness function for Earth-like planets on "habitable" orbits for…
We investigate the possibility of exoplanet detection orbiting source stars in microlensing events through WFIRST observations. We perform a Monto Carlo simulation on the detection rate of exoplanets via microlensing, assuming that each…
Warm or massive gas giant planets, brown dwarfs, and debris disks around nearby stars are now routinely observed by dedicated high-contrast imaging instruments on large, ground-based observatories. These facilities include extreme adaptive…
Well over 700 exoplanets have been detected to date. Only a handful of these have been observed directly. Direct observation is extremely challenging due to the small separation and very large contrast involved. Imaging polarimetry offers a…
Optical neural networks are emerging as a powerful and versatile tool for processing optical signals directly in the optical domain with superior speed, integrability, and functionality. Their application to optical polarization enables…
Recent developments in computational power and machine learning techniques motivate their use in many different astrophysical research areas. Consequently, many machine learning models have been trained to classify exoplanet transit signals…
Space-based coronagraphs for future earth-like planet detection will require focal plane wavefront control techniques to achieve the necessary contrast levels. These correction algorithms are iterative and the control methods require an…
Extra-solar planets have not been imaged directly with existing ground or space telescopes because they are too faint to be seen against the halo of the nearby bright star. Most techniques being explored to suppress the halo are achromatic,…
Terrain relative navigation can improve the precision of a spacecraft's position estimate by detecting global features that act as supplementary measurements to correct for drift in the inertial navigation system. This paper presents a…
Connecting a coronagraph instrument to a spectrograph via a single-mode optical fiber is a promising technique for characterizing the atmospheres of exoplanets with ground and space-based telescopes. However, due to the small separation and…
Further advances in exoplanet detection and characterisation require sampling a diverse population of extrasolar planets. One technique to detect these distant worlds is through the direct detection of their thermal emission. The so-called…
The Terrestrial Planet Finder Coronagraph (TPF-C) mission presented here is an existence proof for a flagship-class internal coronagraph space mission capable of detecting and characterizing Earth-like planets and planetary systems at…
Fewer than 1% of all exoplanets detected to date have been characterized on the basis of spectroscopic observations of their atmosphere. Unlike indirect methods, high-contrast imaging offers access to atmospheric signatures by separating…
The energy range above 60 keV is important for the study of many open problems in high energy astrophysics such as the role of Inverse Compton with respect to synchrotron or thermal processes in GRBs, non thermal mechanisms in SNR, the…
We investigate the potential of photonic lantern (PL) fiber fed spectrometers for two-dimensional spectroastrometry. Spectroastrometry, a technique for studying small angular scales by measuring centroid shifts as a function of wavelength,…
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…
Circumstellar environments are now routinely observed by dedicated high-contrast imagers on large, ground-based observatories. These facilities combine extreme adaptive optics and coronagraphy to achieve unprecedented sensitivities for…