The LBTI hunt for observable signatures of terrestrial systems (HOSTS) survey: a key NASA science program on the road to exoplanet imaging missions

Danchi, W. C.; Bailey, Vanessa P.; Bryden, G.; Defrère, Denis; Haniff, C.; Hinz, Philip M.; Kennedy, Grant M.; Mennesson, Bertrand; Millan-Gabet, R.; Rieke, G. H.; Roberge, Aki; Serabyn, Eugene; Skemer, Andrew J.; Stapelfeldt, Karl; Weinberger, Alycia J.; Wyatt, M. C.

doi:10.1117/12.2056681

Cited by 10 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Exozodi presents as an extended background in the observed systems, potentially washing out imaging and spectral observations of planets in those systems. Although there are efforts underway to observe dust disks around Sun-like stars, 8,9 the average amount of dust and its spectral characteristics are not yet known. In the absence of hard data, efforts have been made to determine the effects of exozodiacal dust on exoEarth observations, 10 although these works did not assume an HDC instrument.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of thermal and exozodiacal background on space telescope observations of exoEarths

Coker

Wang

Shaklan

2018

Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2018: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave

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One of the major goals of the exoplanet community in the coming decades is to detect Earth-like exoplanets (exoEarths) and look for biomarkers in their atmospheres. High-dispersion coronagraphy (HDC) may allow detection and characterization to be done simultaneously, as well as relax the starlight suppression requirements of the telescope and coronagraph. However, similar to other direct imaging techniques, HDC faces challenging thermal and/or exozodiacal background levels. In this paper, we present simulations of coronagraphic observations using a variety of space telescope apertures ranging in diameter from 1 to 15 m, specifically incorporating thermal and exozodiacal background. We investigate the effects of instrument temperature and aperture on the maximum usable wavelength, as well as the effects of exozodiacal disk inclination and thickness on observational SNR. We then identify the spectral resolutions which maximize observational SNR subject to detector noise and the required starlight suppression levels for the detection of various potential biomarker molecules (H2O, O2, CO2, and CH4).

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of thermal and exozodiacal background on space telescope observations of exoEarths

Coker

Wang

Shaklan

2018

Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2018: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave

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“…The main scientific goals are to determine the brightness and prevalence of exozodiacal dust and image giant planets around nearby main-sequence stars. Two surveys are currently being carried out in that respect: an exozodiacal dust survey called HOSTS (Hunt for Observable Signatures of Terrestrial Planetary Systems) 8 and a planet survey called LEECH (LBTI Exozodi Exoplanet Common Hunt). 9 The LBT is an ideal platform for interferometric observations because both telescopes are installed on a single steerable mount.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Warm exozodiacal dust has also been resolved around η Crv using fringe-tracked nulling interferometric observations. 8 The focus of this paper is to describe the status and performance of PHASECam, LBTI's fast-readout nearinfrared camera used to measure tip-tilt and phase variations between the two LBT apertures. We describe PHASECam and the overall control approach in Section 2, the current on-sky performance in Section 3, and the future work in Section 4.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Co-phasing the Large Binocular Telescope: status and performance of LBTI/PHASECam

et al. 2014

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The Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer is a NASA-funded nulling and imaging instrument designed to coherently combine the two 8.4-m primary mirrors of the LBT for high-sensitivity, high-contrast, and highresolution infrared imaging (1.5-13 µm). PHASECam is LBTI's near-infrared camera used to measure tip-tilt and phase variations between the two AO-corrected apertures and provide high-angular resolution observations. We report on the status of the system and describe its on-sky performance measured during the first semester of 2014. With a spatial resolution equivalent to that of a 22.8-meter telescope and the light-gathering power of single 11.8-meter mirror, the co-phased LBT can be considered to be a forerunner of the next-generation extremely large telescopes (ELT).

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“…34 HOSTS will survey the nearest stars to gauge the impact of zodiacal light on future space-based direct imaging missions. LEECH was initially conceived as a "piggy-back" survey to the HOSTS survey.…”

Section: Synergy With Hosts: Hunt For Observable Signatures Of Terresmentioning

confidence: 99%

High contrast imaging at the LBT: the LEECH exoplanet imaging survey

et al. 2014

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In Spring 2013, the LEECH (LBTI Exozodi Exoplanet Common Hunt) survey began its ∼130-night campaign from the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) atop Mt Graham, Arizona. This survey benefits from the many technological achievements of the LBT, including two 8.4-meter mirrors on a single fixed mount, dual adaptive secondary mirrors for high Strehl performance, and a cold beam combiner to dramatically reduce the telescope's overall background emissivity. LEECH neatly complements other high-contrast planet imaging efforts by observing stars at L' (3.8 µm), as opposed to the shorter wavelength near-infrared bands (1-2.4 µm) of other surveys. This portion of the spectrum offers deep mass sensitivity, especially around nearby adolescent (∼0.1-1 Gyr) stars. LEECH's contrast is competitive with other extreme adaptive optics systems, while providing an alternative survey strategy. Additionally, LEECH is characterizing known exoplanetary systems with observations from 3-5µm in preparation for JWST.

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The LBTI hunt for observable signatures of terrestrial systems (HOSTS) survey: a key NASA science program on the road to exoplanet imaging missions

Cited by 10 publications

References 22 publications

Effects of thermal and exozodiacal background on space telescope observations of exoEarths

Effects of thermal and exozodiacal background on space telescope observations of exoEarths

Co-phasing the Large Binocular Telescope: status and performance of LBTI/PHASECam

High contrast imaging at the LBT: the LEECH exoplanet imaging survey

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