Related papers: First High Contrast Imaging Using a Gaussian Apert…

High-contrast imaging has afforded astronomers the opportunity to study light directly emitted by adolescent (tens of Myr) and ``proto" ($<$10Myr) planets still undergoing formation. Direct detection of these planets is enabled by empirical…

Starshades are a leading technology to enable the direct detection and spectroscopic characterization of Earth-like exoplanets. In an effort to advance starshade technology through system level demonstrations, the McMath-Pierce Solar…

Polarised light from astronomical targets can yield a wealth of information about their source radiation mechanisms, and about the geometry of the scattered light regions. Optical observations, of both the linear and circular polarisation…

The general antiparticle spectrometer (GAPS) experiment is a proposed indirect dark matter search focusing on antiparticles produced by WIMP (weakly interacting massive particle) annihilation and decay in the Galactic halo. In addition to…

We present the first results from the polarimetry mode of the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI), which uses a new integral field polarimetry architecture to provide high contrast linear polarimetry with minimal systematic biases between the…

The GAPS experiment is designed to carry out a sensitive dark matter search by measuring low-energy cosmic ray antideuterons and antiprotons. GAPS will provide a new avenue to access a wide range of dark matter models and masses that is…

We present yet another new family of masks for high-contrast imaging as required for the to-be-built terrestrial planet finder space telescope. The ``best'' design involves a square entrance pupil having a 4-vane spider, a square…

GASPS is a far-infrared line and continuum survey of protoplanetary and young debris disks using PACS on the Herschel Space Observatory. The survey includes [OI] at 63 microns, as well as 70, 100 and 160um continuum, with the brightest…

Pupil-mapping is a technique whereby a uniformly-illuminated input pupil, such as from starlight, can be mapped into a non-uniformly illuminated exit pupil, such that the image formed from this pupil will have suppressed sidelobes, many…

We conducted a number of multi-band coronagraph experiments using a vacuum chamber and a binary-shaped pupil mask which in principle should work at all wavelengths, in the context of the research and development on a coronagraph to observe…

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…

We report the serendipitous discovery of ``Einstein cross'' gravitational lens candidates using the Hubble Space Telescope. We have so far discovered two good examples of such lenses, each in the form of four faint blue images located in a…

We present the first resolved mid-IR (11 micron) observations of the four-image quasar lens H1413+117 using the Michelle camera on Gemini North. All previous observations (optical, near-IR, and radio) of this lens show a "flux anomaly,"…

The General Antiparticle Spectrometer (GAPS) is a novel approach for indirect dark matter searches that exploits cosmic antiparticles, especially antideuterons. The GAPS antideuteron measurement utilizes distinctive detection methods using…

We describe the coronagraphic upgrade underway for the Mid-Infrared Array Camera-5 (MIRAC-5) to be used with the 6.5-m MMT telescope utilizing the new MMT Adaptive optics exoPlanet characterization System (MAPS). Mid-IR ground-based…

X-rays are particularly suited to probe the physics of extreme objects. However, despite the enormous improvements of X-ray Astronomy in imaging, spectroscopy and timing, polarimetry remains largely unexplored. We propose the photoelectric…

In our Ultra-Fast Astronomy (UFA) program, we aim to improve measurements of variability of astronomical targets on millisecond and shorter time scales. In this work, we present initial on-sky measurements of the performance of silicon…

The GAPS experiment is foreseen to carry out a dark matter search using a novel detection approach to detect low-energy cosmic-ray antideuterons. The theoretically predicted antideuteron flux resulting from secondary interactions of primary…

The GAPS experiment is foreseen to carry out a dark matter search by measuring low-energy cosmic-ray antideuterons and antiprotons with a novel detection approach. It will provide a new avenue to access a wide range of different dark matter…

The Portable Adaptive Optics (PAO) is a low-cost and compact system, designed for 4-meter class telescopes that have no Adaptive Optics (AO), because of the physical space limitation at the Nasmyth or Cassegrain focus and the historically…