2021 Fiscal Year Annual Research Report
Mapping Habitable Planetary Environments with Exoplanet Imaging
| Project/Area Number |
21H04998
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| Research Institution | National Astronomical Observatory of Japan |
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Principal Investigator |
Guyon Olivier 国立天文台, ハワイ観測所, RCUH職員 (90399288)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
増田 賢人 大阪大学, 大学院理学研究科, 助教 (20874168)
小谷 隆行 大学共同利用機関法人自然科学研究機構(新分野創成センター、アストロバイオロジーセンター、生命創成探究, アストロバイオロジーセンター, 助教 (40554291)
川島 由依 国立研究開発法人理化学研究所, 開拓研究本部, 基礎科学特別研究員 (40897691)
河原 創 東京大学, 大学院理学系研究科(理学部), 助教 (90649758)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2021-07-05 – 2026-03-31
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| Keywords | Astronomy / adaptive optics / wavefront control |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
The goal of our research is to image close-in exoplanets around nearby stars using new photonics technologies. In FY2022, we have continued upgrades to the AO system at Subaru Telescope and validated achromatic phase shifters for the PNC. We have also observed close-in exoplanets.
We are on track to make the Subaru Telescope the most capable exoplanet imaging facility for planets within ~10 a.u. of their stars. Specifically (1) By combining the PNC technology with high performance AO at near-IR wavelength, we will open up the small angular separation regime not previously accessible, (2) We will be the first 8+m facility to provide correction of 3000 modes at 2 kHz speed, (3) We will be the first large telescope to deploy the photonic nulling technology on-sky, with no other facility scheduled to do so within the next ~3yr, (4) The AO wavefront sensing we are developing for the project is significantly more sensitive than existing alternatives.
This effort was focused on the upgrade of the adaptive optics system. We have tested in the laboratory the 3000-element DM that will replace the 188-element DM. We have developed a real-time controller to perform the necessary computation at high speed (2kHz update rate).
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
The AO upgrade is ongoing. We have built and tested the two wavefront sensors (WFSs) that will accurately measure optical aberrations so they can be corrected by the new 3000-element deformable mirror. The near-IR WFS is of the Pyramid type, splitting the telescope beam in the focal plane into 4 beams. Intensity modulations between the 4 beams reveal optical aberrations. We have built and tested the near-IR WFS on-sky, as reported in Lozi et al. 2022.
The visible WFS is of a new type: the non-linear curvature WFS. It provides greater sensitivity and accuracy than previous WFS types, at the cost of additional compute power and complexity to reconstruct optical aberrations from camera images. A prototype of the sensor was assembled in the laboratory, and we demonstrated its performance. The final design has been completed and it will be deployed on the telescope 2024.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
We will complete the adaptive optics “AO3k” upgrade.Our schedule to perform this upgrade has been compressed due to the delay in the delivery of the 3000-element mirror. Other elements of this upgrade (wavefront sensors, real-time computer, software) are well advanced, with laboratory and/or on-sky testing already completed. The full integration of the AO3k components is still challenging, and needs to be executed carefully to avoid disrupting ongoing science observations.
Our plan to conduct this upgrade is to first replace the existing 188-element deformable mirror (DM) with the new 3000-element DM, and replace the old real-time computer with the new one. This will ensure that the existing capabilities are maintained (and improved). Then, in the second phase of the project we will deploy the new wavefront sensors (WFSs) to measure optical aberrations over 3000 modes (as opposed to the current 188 modes).
Phase 1 (DM replacement) will start soon after the DM is delivered. We plan to test the DM replacement in early 2024. The near-IR WFS will be integrated with the new DM in mid 2024, with performance optimization in end 2024. The visible WFS hardware will be installed in summer 2023, and be tested over the fall and winter of 2023/2024.
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Research Products
(6 results)
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[Journal Article] Images of embedded Jovian planet formation at a wide separation around AB Aurigae2022
Author(s)
Currie T., Lawson K., Schneider G., Lyra W., Wisniewski J., Grady C., Guyon O., Tamura M., Kotani T., Kawahara H., Brandt T., Uyama T., Muto T., Dong R., Kudo T., Hashimoto J., Fukagawa M., Wagner K., Lozi J., Chilcote J., Tobin T., Groff T., Ward-Duong K., Januszewski W., Norris B., Tuthill P., et al.
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Journal Title
Nature Astronomy
Volume: 6
Pages: 751～759
DOI
Peer Reviewed / Int'l Joint Research
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