Related papers: Calibrating an Interferometric Null
The future of exoplanet detection lies in the mid-infrared (MIR). The MIR region contains the blackbody peak of both hot and habitable zone exoplanets, making the contrast between starlight and planet light less extreme. It is also the…
Earth-like extra-solar planets may be detected with 1-2m class telescopes using the gravitational microlensing technique. The essential requirement is the ability to be able to carry out continuous observations of the galactic bulge. A…
The Probing Lensing Anomalies NETwork (PLANET) is a worldwide collaboration of astronomers using semi-dedicated European, South African, and Australian telescopes to perform continuous, rapid and precise multi-band CCD photometric…
Neutron interferometry enables precision measurements that are typically operated within elaborate, multi-layered facilities which provide substantial shielding from environmental noise. These facilities are necessary to maintain the…
Field of View (FoV) and contrast limitations of stellar interferometers have been the scope of numerous publications for more than thirty years. Recently, this topic regained some interest since long-baseline terrestrial interferometers or…
The value of accurately knowing the absolute calibration of the polarizing elements in the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) becomes especially important when conducting studies which require measuring degrees of…
The fields of occultation and microlensing are linked historically. Early this century, occultation of the Sun by the Moon allowed the apparent positions of background stars projected near the limb of the Sun to be measured and compared…
This paper describes the concept and the beginning of an experimental investigation of whether it is possible to directly detect dark energy density on earth using atom interferometry. The concept is to null out the gravitational force…
Vortex fiber nulling is a method for spectroscopically characterizing exoplanets at small angular separations, $\lesssim\lambda/D$, from their host star. The starlight is suppressed by creating an optical vortex in the system point spread…
In this paper are reviewed various designs of advanced, multi-aperture optical systems dedicated to high angular resolution imaging or to the detection of exo-planets by nulling interferometry. A simple Fourier optics formalism applicable…
We investigate the linear polarization in the light of extrasolar planetary systems that may arise as a result of an occultation of the star by a transiting planet. Such an occultation breaks any spherical symmetry over the projected…
The quest for other habitable worlds and the search for life among them are major goals of modern astronomy. One way to make progress towards these goals is to obtain high-quality spectra of a large number of exoplanets over a broad range…
Are microlensing searches likely to discover planets that harbor life? Given our present state of knowledge, this is a difficult question to answer. We therefore begin by asking a more narrowly focused question: are conditions on planets…
We have developed a new method to improve the transit detection of Earth-sized planets in front of solar-like stars by fitting stellar microvariability by means of a spot model. A large Monte Carlo numerical experiment has been designed to…
Nulling interferometry is one of the most promising technologies for imaging exoplanets within stellar habitable zones. The use of photonics for carrying out nulling interferometry enables the contrast and separation required for exoplanet…
The physical bases of the detection and characterisation of extrasolar planets in the reflected light and thermal emission regimes are reviewed. They both have their advantages and disadvantages, including artefacts, in the determination of…
We propose an experiment using a conventional optical telescope to determine whether aberration of starlight results from special relativistic effects external to a measurement sensor or from optical effects within a sensor. The proposed…
The propagation of errors through the uniform disk visibility function is examined. Implications of those errors upon measures of absolute visibility through optical and near-infrared interferometers are considered within the context of…
Among the methods proposed to detect extrasolar planets, microlensing is the only technique that can detect free-floating planets. Free-floating planets are detected through the channel of short-duration isolated lensing events. However, if…
Eclipsing planetary systems give us an important window on extrasolar planet atmospheres. By measuring the depth of the secondary eclipse, when the planet moves behind the star, we can estimate the strength of the thermal emission from the…