Author/Authors :
Macintosh، نويسنده , , Bruce and Graham، نويسنده , , James and Palmer، نويسنده , , David and Doyon، نويسنده , , Rene and Gavel، نويسنده , , Don and Larkin، نويسنده , , James and Oppenheimer، نويسنده , , Ben and Saddlemyer، نويسنده , , Leslie and Wallace، نويسنده , , J. Kent and Bauman، نويسنده , , Brian and Erikson، نويسنده , , Darren and Poyneer، نويسنده , , Lisa and Sivaramakrishnan، نويسنده , , Anand and ، نويسنده ,
Abstract :
The direct detection of photons emitted or reflected by extrasolar planets, spatially resolved from their parent star, is a major frontier in the study of other solar systems. Direct detection will provide statistical information on planets in 5–50 AU orbits, inaccessible to current Doppler searches, and allow spectral characterization of radius, temperature, surface gravity, and perhaps composition. Achieving this will require new, dedicated, high-contrast instruments. One such system under construction is the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI). This combines a high-order/high-speed adaptive optics system to control wavefront errors from the Earthʹs atmosphere, an advanced coronagraph to block diffraction, ultrasmooth optics, a precision infrared interferometer to measure and correct systematic errors, and a integral field spectrograph/polarimeter to image and characterize target planetary systems. We predict that GPI will be able to detect planets with brightness less than 10−7 of their parent star, sufficient to observe warm self-luminous planets around a large population of targets. To cite this article: B. Macintosh et al., C. R. Physique 8 (2007).
