Imaging Extrasolar Planets by Stellar Halo Suppression in Separately Corrected Color Bands

Imaging extrasolar planets by stellar halo suppression in separately-corrected color bands

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, with separate correction of diffraction and wavefront errors. Residual speckle structure may be subtracted by differencing images taken through narrowband f...

Extrasolar Giant Planets under Strong Stellar Irradiation

We investigate the effects on extrasolar giant planets [EGPs] of intense irradiation by their parent stars, describing the issues involved in treating the model atmosphere problem correctly. We treat the radiative transfer in detail, allowing the flux from the parent star to interact with all relevant depths of the planetary atmosphere, with no need for a pre-assumed albedo. We present a low-re...

High Contrast Imaging of Extrasolar Planets

Gaussian aperture pupil masks (GAPMs) can in theory achieve the contrast requisite for directly imaging an extrasolar planet. We use lab tests and simulations to further study their possible place as a high contrast imaging technique. We present lab comparisons with traditional Lyot coronagraphs and simulations of GAPMs and other high contrast imaging techniques on HST.

Survey for Transiting Extrasolar Planets in Stellar Systems ( STEPSS ) : The Frequency of Planets in NGC 1245

We present first results from the Survey for Transiting Extrasolar Planets in Stellar Systems (STEPSS). Our goal is to assess the frequency of close-in extrasolar planets around main-sequence stars in several open clusters. By concentrating on main-sequence stars in clusters of known (and varied) age, metallicity, and stellar density, we will gain insight into how these various properties affec...

Magnetospheric Emissions from Extrasolar Planets Magnetospheric Emission from Extrasolar Planets