Engineering Papers⌕ Search

Engineering topics

Guyon, Olivier

Publications and source records attributed to Guyon, Olivier.

At least 37 records · Page 2

Laboratory Testing and Performance Verification of the CHARIS Integral Field Spectrograph

The Coronagraphic High Angular Resolution Imaging Spectrograph (CHARIS) is an integral field spectrograph (IFS) that has been built for the Subaru telescope. CHARIS has two imaging modes; the high-resolution mode is R82, R69, and R82 in J, H, and K bands respectively while the low-resolution discovery mode uses a second low-resolution prism with R19 spanning 1.15-2.37 microns (J+H+K bands). The discovery mode is meant to augment the low inner working angle of the Subaru Coronagraphic Extreme Adaptive Optics (SCExAO) adaptive optics system, which feeds CHARIS a coronagraphic image. The goal is to detect and characterize brown dwarfs and hot Jovian planets down to contrasts five orders of magnitude dimmer than their parent star at an inner working angle as low as 80 milliarcseconds. CHARIS constrains spectral crosstalk through several key aspects of the optical design. Additionally, the repeatability of alignment of certain optical components is critical to the calibrations required for the data pipeline. Specifically the relative alignment of the lens let array, prism, and detector must be highly stable and repeatable between imaging modes. We report on the measured repeatability and stability of these mechanisms, measurements of spectral crosstalk in the instrument, and the propagation of these errors through the data pipeline. Another key design feature of CHARIS is the prism, which pairs Barium Fluoride with Ohara L-BBH2 high index glass. The dispersion of the prism is significantly more uniform than other glass choices, and the CHARIS prisms represent the first NIR astronomical instrument that uses L-BBH2as the high index material. This material choice was key to the utility of the discovery mode, so significant efforts were put into cryogenic characterization of the material. The final performance of the prism assemblies in their operating environment is described in detail. The spectrograph is going through final alignment, cryogenic cycling, and is being delivered to the Subaru telescope in April 2016. This paper is a report on the laboratory performance of the spectrograph, and its current status in the commissioning process so that observers will better understand the instrument capabilities. We will also discuss the lessons learned during the testing process and their impact on future high-contrast imaging spectrographs for wavefront control.

Coronagraphic High Angular Resolution Imaging Spec↗

End-to-End Assessment of a Large Aperture Segmented Ultraviolet Optical Infrared (UVOIR) Telescope Architecture

Key challenges of a future large aperture, segmented Ultraviolet Optical Infrared (UVOIR) Telescope capable of performing a spectroscopic survey of hundreds of Exoplanets will be sufficient stability to achieve 10-10 contrast measurements and sufficient throughput and sensitivity for high yield Exo-Earth spectroscopic detection. Our team has collectively assessed an optimized end to end architecture including a high throughput coronagraph capable of working with a segmented telescope, a cost-effective and heritage based stable segmented telescope, a control architecture that minimizes the amount of new technologies, and an Exo-Earth yield assessment to evaluate potential performance.

Feinberg, Lee↗

PSF Calibration Using the Lyot-Based Low Order Wavefront Sensor Telemetry - First Simulations

One of the factor that derives the performance of small inner working angle (IWA) coronagraphs is the quality of the low-order wavefront calibration and control. The uncorrected residuals scatter the starlight and produces intensity fluctuations, which as a result creates dynamic speckle noise in the focal plane. To improve post processing of the science images, the low-order telemetry of the residuals left uncorrected by the control loop can be used to calibrate the amount of starlight leakage at small angular separations. In this proceeding, we present the preliminary simulations of point spread function calibration using the Lyot-based low-order wavefront sensor measurements (tip-tilt only) for a vector vortex coronagraph.

Low-order wavefront aberrations↗

The Habitable Exoplanet (HabEx) imaging mission concept: preliminary science drivers and technical requirements

HabEx is one of 4 possible NASA flagship mission concepts studied for a possible launch in the 2030s. It will be optimized for direct imaging and spectroscopy of habitable exoplanets, and will also enable a wide range of general astrophysics observations. HabEx shall characterize full planetary systems around nearby solar-type stars for the first time, including rocky planets, possible water worlds, gas giants, ice giants, and faint circumstellar debris disks. It will in particular explore our nearest neighbor planetary systems and search for signs of habitability and bio-signatures in the atmospheres of rocky planets. Such high spatial resolution high contrast observations require a large (~3.5 to 8m) stable diffraction- limited optical space telescope, which also opens new unique capabilities for studying the formation and evolution of stars and galaxies. We present here some preliminary science objectives identified for HabEx by our Science and Technology Definition Team (STDT), together with a first look at the key challenges and design trades ahead.

Mennesson, Bertrand↗

Demonstration of Broadband Contrast at 1.2 Lambda/D for the EXCEDE Phase-Induced Amplitude Apodization Coronagraph

The proposed coronagraph instrument on the EXCEDE (EXoplanetary Circumstellar Environments and Disk Explorer) mission study uses a Phase-Induced Amplitude Apodization (PIAA) coronagraph architecture to enable high-contrast imaging of circumstellar debris disks and giant planets at angular separations as close in as the habitable zone of nearby host stars. We report on the experimental results obtained in the vacuum chamber at the Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center in 10 percent broadband light centered about 650 nanometers, with a median contrast of 1 x 10 (sup -5) between 1.2 and 2.0 lambda /D simultaneously with 3 x 10 (sup -7) contrast between 2 and 11 =D between 2 and 11 lambda/D for a single-sided dark hole using a deformable mirror (DM) upstream of the PIAA coronagraph. The results are stable and repeatable as demonstrated by three measurements runs with DM settings set from scratch and maintained on the best 90 percent out of the 1000 collected frames. We compare the reduced experimental data with simulation results from modeling observed experimental limits; performance is consistent with uncorrected low-order modes not estimated by the Low Order Wavefront Sensor (LOWFS). Modeled sensitivity to bandwidth and residual tip/tilt modes is well-matched to the experiment.

Wavefront control↗

The CHARIS IFS for high contrast imaging at Subaru

The Coronagraphic High Angular Resolution Imaging Spectrograph (CHARIS) is an integral field spectrograph (IFS) being built for the Subaru telescope. CHARIS will take spectra of brown dwarfs and hot Jovian planets in the coronagraphic image provided by the Subaru Coronagraphic Extreme Adaptive Optics (SCExAO) and AO188 adaptive optics systems. The system is designed to detect objects five orders of magnitude dimmer than their parent star down to an 80 milliarcsecond inner working angle. For characterization, CHARIS has a high-resolution prism providing an average spectral resolution of R82, R69, and R82 in J, H, and K bands respectively. The so-called discovery mode uses a second low-resolution prism with an average spectral resolution of R19 spanning 1.15-2.37 microns (J+H+K bands). This is unique compared to other high contrast IFS designs. It augments low inner working angle performance by reducing the separation at which we can rely on spectral differential imaging. The principal challenge for a high-contrast IFS is quasi-static speckles, which cause undue levels of spectral crosstalk. CHARIS has addressed this through several key design aspects that should constrain crosstalk between adjacent spectral features to be below 1%. Sitting on the Nasmyth platform, the alignment between the lenslet array, prism, and detector will be highly stable, key for the performance of the data pipeline. Nearly every component has arrived and the project is entering its final build phase. Here we review the science case, the resulting design, status of final construction, and lessons learned that are directly applicable to future exoplanet instruments.

Subaru Coronagraphic Extreme Adaptive Optics (SCEx↗

Design of Off-Axis PIAACMC Mirrors

The Phase-Induced Amplitude Apodization Complex Mask Coronagraph (PIAACMC) provides an efficient way to control diffraction propagation effects caused by the central obstruction/segmented mirrors of the telescope. PIAACMC can be optimized in a way that takes into account both chromatic diffraction effects caused by the telescope obstructed aperture and tip/tilt sensitivity of the coronagraph. As a result, unlike classic PIAA, the PIAACMC mirror shapes are often slightly asymmetric even for an on-axis configuration and require more care in calculating off-axis shapes when an off-axis configuration is preferred. A method to design off-axis PIAA mirror shapes given an on-axis mirror design is presented. The algorithm is based on geometrical ray tracing and is able to calculate off-axis PIAA mirror shapes for an arbitrary geometry of the input and output beams. The method is demonstrated using the third generation PIAACMC design for WFIRST-AFTA (Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope-Astrophysics Focused Telescope Assets) telescope. Geometrical optics design issues related to the off-axis diffraction propagation effects are also discussed.

Exoplanets↗

High-Resolution Submillimeter and Near-Infrared Studies of the Transition Disk around Sz 91

To reveal the structures of a transition disk around a young stellar object in Lupus, Sz 91, we have performed aperture synthesis 345 GHz continuum and CO(32) observations with the Submillimeter Array ( 13 resolution), and high-resolution imaging of polarized intensity at the Ks-band by using the Hi-CIAO instrument on the Subaru Telescope (0.25 resolution). Our observations successfully resolved the inner and outer radii of the dust disk to be 65 and 170AU, respectively, which indicates that Sz 91 is a transition disk source with one of the largest known inner holes. The model fitting analysis of the spectral energy distribution reveals an H2 mass of 2.4 103 M in the cold (T 30 K) outer part at 65 r 170 AU by assuming a canonical gas-to-dust mass ratio of 100, although a small amount ( 3109 M) of hot (T 180 K) dust possibly remains inside the inner hole of the disk. The structure of the hot component could be interpreted as either an unresolved self-luminous companion body (not directly detected in our observations) or a narrow ring inside the inner hole. Significant CO(32) emission with a velocity gradient along the major axis of the dust disk is concentrated on the Sz 91 position, suggesting a rotating gas disk with a radius of 420 AU. The Sz 91 disk is possibly a rare disk in an evolutionary stage immediately after the formation of protoplanets because of the large inner hole and the lower disk mass than other transition disks studied thus far.

Hi-CIAO instrument↗

High-Resolution Submillimeter and Near-Infrared Studies of the Transition Disk Around Sz 91

To reveal the structures of a transition disk around a young stellar object in Lupus, Sz 91, we have performed aperture synthesis 345 GHz continuum and CO(3--2) observations with the Submillimeter Array (approximately 1" - 3" resolution), and high-resolution imaging of polarized intensity at the K(sub s) -band by using the HiCIAO instrument on the Subaru Telescope (0.25" resolution). Our observations successfully resolved the inner and outer radii of the dust disk to be 65 AU and 170 AU, respectively, which indicates that Sz 91 is a transition disk source with one of the largest known inner holes. The model fitting analysis of the spectral energy distribution reveals an H 2 mass of 2.4×10(exp −3) M(solar mass) in the cold (T less than 30 K) outer part at 65 less than r less than 170 AU by assuming a canonical gas-to-dust mass ratio of 100, although a small amount (greater than 3×10(exp −9) M(solar mass)) of hot (T approximately 180 K) dust possibly remains inside the inner hole of the disk. The structure of the hot component could be interpreted as either an unresolved self-luminous companion body (not directly detected in our observations) or a narrow ring inside the inner hole. Significant CO(3--2) emission with a velocity gradient along the major axis of the dust disk is concentrated on the Sz 91 position, suggesting a rotating gas disk with a radius of 420 AU. The Sz 91 disk is possibly a rare disk in an evolutionary stage immediately after the formation of protoplanets because of the large inner hole and the lower disk mass than other transition disks studied thus far.

canonical gas-to-dust mass ratio↗

A Discovery of a Candidate Companion to a Transiting System KOI-94: A Direct Imaging Study for a Possibility of a False Positive

We report a discovery of a companion candidate around one of Kepler Objects of Interest (KOIs), KOI-94, and results of our quantitative investigation of the possibility that planetary candidates around KOI-94 are false positives. KOI-94 has a planetary system in which four planetary detections have been reported by Kepler, suggesting that this system is intriguing to study the dynamical evolutions of planets. However, while two of those detections (KOI-94.01 and 03) have been made robust by previous observations, the others (KOI-94.02 and 04) are marginal detections, for which future confirmations with various techniques are required. We have conducted high-contrast direct imaging observations with Subaru/HiCIAO in H band and detected a faint object located at a separation of approximately 0.6 sec from KOI-94. The object has a contrast of approximately 1 × 10(exp −3) in H band, and corresponds to an M type star on the assumption that the object is at the same distance of KOI-94. Based on our analysis, KOI-94.02 is likely to be a real planet because of its transit depth, while KOI-94.04 can be a false positive due to the companion candidate. The success in detecting the companion candidate suggests that high-contrast direct imaging observations are important keys to examine false positives of KOIs. On the other hand, our transit light curve reanalyses lead to a better period estimate of KOI-94.04 than that on the KOI catalogue and show that the planetary candidate has the same limb darkening parameter value as the other planetary candidates in the KOI-94 system, suggesting that KOI-94.04 is also a real planet in the system.

Subaru/HiCIAO↗

Achromatic Focal Plane Mask for Exoplanet Imaging Coronagraphy

Recent advances in coronagraph technologies for exoplanet imaging have achieved contrasts close to 1e10 at 4 lambda/D and 1e-9 at 2 lambda/D in monochromatic light. A remaining technological challenge is to achieve high contrast in broadband light; a challenge that is largely limited by chromaticity of the focal plane mask. The size of a star image scales linearly with wavelength. Focal plane masks are typically the same size at all wavelengths, and must be sized for the longest wavelength in the observational band to avoid starlight leakage. However, this oversized mask blocks useful discovery space from the shorter wavelengths. We present here the design, development, and testing of an achromatic focal plane mask based on the concept of optical filtering by a diffractive optical element (DOE). The mask consists of an array of DOE cells, the combination of which functions as a wavelength filter with any desired amplitude and phase transmission. The effective size of the mask scales nearly linearly with wavelength, and allows significant improvement in the inner working angle of the coronagraph at shorter wavelengths. The design is applicable to almost any coronagraph configuration, and enables operation in a wider band of wavelengths than would otherwise be possible. We include initial results from a laboratory demonstration of the mask with the Phase Induced Amplitude Apodization coronagraph.

Achromatic↗

Laboratory Demonstration of Phase Induced Amplitude Apodization (PIAA) Coronagraph with Better than 10(exp -9) Contrast

We present coronagraphic images from the Phase Induced Amplitude Apodization (PIAA) coronagraph on NASA's High Contrast Imaging Testbed (HCIT) at the Jet Propulsion Lab, showing contrasts of 5x10(exp -1) averaged from 2-4 lambda/D, in monochromatic light at 808 nm. In parallel with the coronagraph and its deformable mirror and coronagraphic wavefront control, we also demonstrate a low-order wavefront control system, giving 100 x rms suppression of introduced tip/tilt disturbances down to residual levels of 10(exp -3) lambda/D. Current limitations, as well as broadband (10% fractional bandpass) preliminary results are discussed.

deformable mirror (DM)↗

High Contrast Internal and External Coronagraph Masks Produced by Various Techniques

Masks for high contrast internal and external coronagraphic imaging require a variety of masks depending on different architectures to suppress star light. Various fabrication technologies are required to address a wide range of needs including gradient amplitude transmission, tunable phase profiles, ultra-low reflectivity, precise small scale features, and low-chromaticity. We present the approaches employed at JPL to produce pupil plane and image plane coronagraph masks, and lab-scale external occulter type masks by various techniques including electron beam, ion beam, deep reactive ion etching, and black silicon technologies with illustrative examples of each. Further development is in progress to produce circular masks of various kinds for obscured aperture telescopes.

Phase Induced Amplitude Apodization Complex Mask C↗

Direct Imaging Search for Extrasolar Planets in the Pleiades

We carried out an imaging survey for extrasolar planets around stars in the Pleiades (125 Myr, 135 pc) in the H and K(sub S) bands using HiCIAO combined with adaptive optics, AO188, on the Subaru telescope. We found 13 companion candidates fainter than 14.5 mag in the H band around 9 stars. Five of these 13 were confirmed to be background stars by measurement of their proper motion. One was not found in the second epoch observation, and thus was not a background or companion object. One had multi-epoch images, but the precision of its proper motion was not sufficient to conclude whether it was a background object. Four other candidates are waiting for second-epoch observations to determine their proper motion. Finally, the remaining two were confirmed to be 60 M(sub J) brown dwarf companions orbiting around HD 23514 (G0) and HII 1348 (K5), respectively, as had been reported in previous studies. In our observations, the average detection limit for a point source was 20.3 mag in the H band beyond 1.′′ 5 from the central star. On the basis of this detection limit, we calculated the detection efficiency to be 90% for a planet with 6 to 12 Jovian masses and a semi-major axis of 50–1000 AU. For this reason we extrapolated the distribution of the planet mass and the semi-major axis derived from radial velocity observations, and adopted the planet evolution model Baraffe et al. (2003, A&A, 402, 701). Since there was no detection of a planet, we estimated the frequency of such planets to be less than 17.9% (2 sigma) around one star of the Pleiades cluster.

extrasolar planets↗

The SEEDS Direct Imaging Survey for Planets and Scattered Dust Emission in Debris Disk Systems

Debris disks around young main-sequence stars often have gaps and cavities which for a long time have been interpreted as possibly being caused by planets. In recent years, several giant planet discoveries have been made in systems hosting disks of precisely this nature, further implying that interactions with planets could be a common cause of such disk structures. As part of the SEEDS high-contrast imaging survey, we are surveying a population of debris disk-hosting stars with gaps and cavities implied by their spectral energy distributions, in order to attempt to spatially resolve the disk as well as to detect any planets that may be responsible for the disk structure. Here we report on intermediate results from this survey. Five debris disks have been spatially resolved, and a number of faint point sources have been discovered, most of which have been tested for common proper motion, which in each case has excluded physical companionship with the target stars. From the detection limits of the 50 targets that have been observed, we find that beta Pic b-like planets (approximately 10M(sub jup) planets around G-A-type stars) near the gap edges are less frequent than 15-30%, implying that if giant planets are the dominant cause of these wide (27 AU on average) gaps, they are generally less massive than beta Pic b.

high-contrast imaging↗

SCExAO: First Results and On-Sky Performance

We present new on-sky results for the Subaru Coronagraphic Extreme Adaptive Optics imager (SCExAO) verifying and quantifying the contrast gain enabled by key components: the closed-loop coronagraphic low-order wavefront sensor (CLOWFS) and focal plane wavefront control ("speckle nulling"). SCExAO will soon be coupled with a high-order, Pyramid wavefront sensor which will yield greater than 90% Strehl ratio and enable 10(exp 6) -10(exp 7) contrast at small angular separations allowing us to image gas giant planets at solar system scales. Upcoming instruments like VAMPIRES, FIRST, and CHARIS will expand SCExAO's science capabilities.

Subaru Coronagraphic Extreme Adaptive Optics image↗